He couldn’t breathe. The woman he was falling for—who he was imagining a future with—had never really been his.
And Jean-Paul? God, everything Cassidy had told him about that guy screamed red flags—narcissistic, controlling, manipulative. The kind of man who could shatter a woman’s confidence, piece by piece, until she didn’t even realize it was happening. The kind of man who would show up like this, in the middle of town, making a spectacle, pulling her back into his orbit like she owed him something.
What was he supposed to do? Run across the street and drag her away?
If this was her choice… he would just never be able to understand it.
A familiar tightness pressed against his ribs, creeping up his throat. He hadn’t had a panic attack in over a year, but he felt one coming on now. It suddenly felt like this time of year was cursed for him. He’d just started to let go of the past, and to fall in love again. He should have known better than to tempt fate by allowing happiness to get a foothold at Christmastime. Now he was going to have a panic attack here, in front of everyone, in front of her. No. He needed out. Out of town, out of the crowd, away from the lights and the cheer and the image of Cassidy being kissed by someone else.
He turned to walk away and found himself running.
He had to escape Maple Falls.
THIRTY-FIVE
CASSIDY
Sunday, December 14th
“What? No. I won’t marry you!” Cassidy exclaimed in French as she pushed off Jean-Paul’s chest, her voice sharp and echoing across the town square. She couldn’t believe he’d just shown up like this—out of nowhere—and dropped to one knee as if the last year hadn’t happened. “In what world does that make sense?”
But it was too late.
The whole town was staring. Looking at her like she was some wicked Christmas Jezebel who’d just stomped on their hometown hero’s heart. Mr. Alders glared from his bench. Mrs. C. was tugging off her Team Cassidy sweater.
“Stop, I’m not marrying him!” she shouted in English now, looking around, trying to get everyone to believe her. “I don’t even like him!” she added, hoping that would help.
Jean-Paul looked incredulous, as though he genuinely couldn’t believe she was rejecting him.
“What is the matter with you?” He gripped her by the arm, reverting back to French. “You didn’t even look at the ring.” He held open the box, hoping to charm her by the massive diamond twinkling up at her.
She hated it at first sight.
“I don’t care about the ring! God, what is the matter with you?”
Jean-Paul dropped his voice. “You are making a scene. Let’s get out of here. I booked us a room. We can talk this through.”
“You booked a room at the Cinnamon Spice Inn?” she asked, baffled.
“What? God, no. I booked a five-star hotel about fifty miles from here. That’s how far I had to go to find a decent hotel, if you can believe it. And what’s with the sweater? Were you forced to wear that as part of your uniform?”
“Uniform?” she repeated, stunned. “No. I happen to love this sweater. And for the record, no one tells me what to do. I own my own chocolate shop.”
Jean-Paul laughed. A hollow, condescending sound.
“That isn’t a chocolate shop. That is selling basic sweets to a bunch of unsophisticated Americans. What we have together in Paris—that’s a chocolate shop.”
His French was rapid now, sharp, cutting insults that the crowd couldn’t follow—but Cassidy could. And even if they couldn’t understand the words, the tone was unmistakable. The anger in his voice made people shift uncomfortably, even without knowing the language.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Cassidy said firmly back in French, her voice clear and rising above the noise. “In fact, I never want to see you again. You won’t believe it, but I’m happy—really, truly happy. I love my life. And it doesn’t have you in it. I never want it to again.”
Before Jean-Paul could respond, Zach stepped in, coming up beside her like a silent shield.
“I’m pretty sure the woman just told you to leave,” he said flatly.
Cassidy glanced at Zach, grateful. The translation wasn’t exact, but it was close enough.
Jean-Paul narrowed his eyes and took a step back, sizing Zach up.
