.

      “That I’ve gone shopping…We’re meeting at the mall.”

      “That’s all she needs to know.”

      Noelle kissed her father on the cheek. His eyes didn’t leave the screen as he reached inside his pants pocket and handed her his car keys. “Why don’t you take my car again?”

      “Thanks, Dad.”

      “Don’t mention it.” Then her father did look away from the television and his gaze sought hers. “You have feelings for this young man?”

      Noelle nodded. It was the truth, much as she hated to acknowledge it, even to herself.

      Her father nodded, too. “I was afraid of that.”

      His words lingered in Noelle’s mind as she drove to the Rose Mall on the west side of town. She’d lived for this moment ever since she and Thom had parted the night before. They’d resolved what both had considered a deception, but so many questions were still unanswered. They needed time to think, to consider the consequences of becoming involved a second time. Nothing had changed between their families—or more specifically, their mothers—but other things were different. Noelle wasn’t the naive eighteen-year-old she’d been ten years ago; neither was Thom.