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Three hours later Noah wouldn’t blame Gracie for being a little annoyed with him. He’d walked a dozen dogs, fed twice as many cats, cleaned more crates than he could count, and in all that time said zero stuff about anything to do with his memoir.

Which is why he’d swung through her favorite sandwich shop in Alda on the way home and was slowing to pull into one of the town’s little neighborhood parks right now. A little park that just happened to be his favorite park in Alda.

“What are you doing?” Gracie asked, her voice full of suspicion as she secured the bags of chips and sandwiches on her lap when he made the turn.

“Weather’s nice. Figured we could talk and eat our food while we work on the memoir here for a bit.”

Some of the happy endorphins from cuddling and cooing over kittens all morning must’ve still been circulating in her bloodstream. She didn’t argue. But she did keep shooting him a curious glance from the side of her eye as he followed the curve of the narrow one-way road that wrapped around the park. Other than a couple moms chatting on one of the park benches while their preschool-aged kids played nearby on a swing set, the park sat empty.

“Man, I’m starving,” Noah said as he parked his Jeep next to the tennis court. “What?” he added when he looked over to find Gracie staring at him straight on now with one of her eyebrows slanted.

“What are we doing here?” The suspicion in her voice had been replaced with an amused sort of annoyance.

“I already told you. Multitasking. We can work on the memoir while we eat. If you want, I can even record everything we say.” He set his phone on the console, then grabbed his sandwich off her lap.

“Right. But what are we doing here ?” She rapped a knuckle on the window.

Noah shrugged with mock innocence. “Something wrong with here? Can’t think of any reason you’d get all weird about a park. I mean it’s just a park. Nothing special about it except—oh, wait. You’re not thinking about what I think you’re thinking about, are you? Oh, I see. You are thinking about that.”

Now Noah offered her a look of mock sympathy as he swiped his barbecue chips off her lap and pulled apart the top. “That’s probably all you can think about, isn’t it?”

Her lips pressed to the side, the way they always did when she was trying to hide a smile. “Uh-huh, and just what am I thinking about?”

“Obviously the most exciting thing that’s ever happened in this park, probably even the entire town. Our first kiss, of course. Right there on the tennis court. And hey, now that I think about it—” He started unwrapping the brown paper from his turkey sub. “Weren’t we eating sub sandwiches on that date too?”

She wasn’t even trying to hide her smile now. “You’ve got it so wrong.”

“Which part? The sandwiches or the tennis court?”

“The whole first kiss part,” she said, unwrapping her own sandwich.

He paused on his way to take a bite. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t you remember our first date at the movies?”

“I remember a movie. I don’t remember any kiss.”

“You kissed my cheek before you dropped me off at home.”

“A cheek kiss?” Noah bit into his sub, speaking around his mouthful. “Babe, no man alive is going to count that as a first kiss.”

“Well, I’m counting it as my first kiss. I loved that kiss.”

“Just goes to show what an amazing kisser I am.” He winked, started to take another bite, then lowered his sandwich. “Hold up a second. Out there on the tennis court—the night of our first real kiss—you told me your first kiss was at a summer camp to a boy named Dustin. Just how many first kisses are you going to count?”

Gracie lifted the long bun away from her BLT the way she always did to make sure there weren’t any secret pickles hidden inside. “There was a summer camp. There was a Dustin. I sort of made up the whole bit about us kissing.”

Apparently reassured that her sandwich was pickle free, she bit off a huge chunk and tried to chew without smiling. Her lips didn’t even stay pressed to the side for two seconds before she was giggling. “What?”

Noah handed her a napkin before she shot BLT all over his Jeep. “Do you have any idea how jealous I was that this Dustin kid got to kiss you first?”

“Dustin wasn’t even a kid,” she said, her face turning red from trying to chew and swallow and not laugh. “He was one of the camp counselor’s dogs. It was the first name I thought of.”

“Are you kidding me?” Noah wadded up his napkin and bopped it off her forehead. But he couldn’t stop grinning. And she couldn’t stop giggling.

“I don’t even know why I said it. I think I was just nervous.”

“So you lied about making out with a camp counselor’s dog?” She laughed harder just like he’d hoped. Man, he’d missed that sound. “Why were you so nervous anyway? I was the only one who should’ve been nervous.”

“ You? Please. You were the cute, mysterious new guy—all the girls were talking about you. You had no reason to be nervous. But me—well, I was just... Gracie.”

“Sure. Just Gracie. Just-the-most-beautiful-girl-I’d-ever-met Gracie. You’re crazy, you know that? I can’t believe you made up a kiss and never told me.”

“Says the man who never told me he had a brother who died.”

Noah dipped his head to the side. “You might have me there.” He poured a few chips from the bag straight into his mouth. After a few minutes of them both eating in silence, he said, “Hey, so tell me this then. If I was your first kiss, does that mean I’m the only—” He shook his head. “Never mind.”

He actually didn’t want to know the answer to that question. He uncapped his bottled water and took a long drink. If he thought he’d been jealous of Dustin, no telling how jealous he’d get thinking about some man Gracie might’ve kissed after their divorce.

Best not to even think about it. Ever.

Neither of them said anything while they finished eating their sandwiches and chips. It wasn’t until they’d shoved all the wrappers into a sack and wiped off their fingers with some wet wipes Gracie found in her purse, then started back for the house that Gracie’s soft voice reached across the console.

“Yes, Noah. To answer your question, it’s only ever been you.”