Sydney felt her face heat with embarrassment. “Sex.”

“How so?”

“It was sweet and nice with Seth, but with Luke. . . It was wild and kind of earth-shattering. I don’t know if it would still be that way, but it was back then.” Sydney released a long deep breath. “I sound like a horrible person even saying that.”

“No, you don’t. You would’ve been a horrible person if you’d continued to sleep with Luke after you were married. That’s what horrible people do.”

Sydney smiled. Leave it to Maddie to cut to the chase. “I used to think my feelings for Luke took on such mythic proportions because everything about our relationship was new and exciting and a bit forbidden.”

“And now?”

“I’m not so sure it was any of those things. Seeing him again, I’ve begun to realize it was us. That what we had was that special thing they write about, but I was too young and stupid to know it at the time.”

Maddie reached across the counter to squeeze Sydney’s hand. “Oh, Syd.”

“I walked away from him like he meant nothing to me. How could I have done that to him, Maddie? It ruined him. I ruined him.”

“If he wasn’t capable of getting past that, I doubt he would’ve been looking at you the other night like he wants to take you home and keep you in bed for the next year.”

Sydney’s face heated. “He was not.”

“Was too.” Maddie refilled their coffee and glanced at Thomas, who was reclined against Buddy, sucking his thumb. “Did he kiss you last night?”

Sydney popped a bite of muffin into her mouth. “Maybe.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“Well, somehow we ended up rolling around on his lawn.”

“Shut up!”

“You asked.”

“Sydney, listen to me. Are you listening?”

She nodded.

“He’s moved past what happened before. If he hadn’t, if he really hadn’t, he wouldn’t have invited you into his home and he certainly wouldn’t have been rolling around on his lawn with you.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“Positive. You’re the one who needs to get past what happened before. And don’t waste your time comparing him to Seth. That’s not fair to either of them, and it won’t change anything. You did what was best for you at the time. There’s no sense rehashing history.”

“I know you’re right.”

“I remember when you left that last summer you were here. You were concerned about whether you and Luke wanted the same things out of life. He’d given up his scholarship and was content to stay here. He was never going to set the world on fire with ambition or make a lot of money. Those things were very much on your mind then.”