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How could everything have gone so wrong so quickly? She’d not even given him a chance to explain why he’d hidden the letter and waited to discuss it with her. He thought he’d been doing the right thing and now he was questioning everything. Seeing her like that, so angry and sad and broken, it had done something to him; it was like an arrow pierced through his chest and even now it felt as though it was lodged there.
Even though he felt exhausted, his mind was still racing, wondering how to fix things. He desperately wanted someone else’s opinion on the matter. Laura would have some wise — if slightly brutal — words to share. Mrs. Lucas would probably be able to fix things in three minutes flat. Hell, even Donna and Betty would give some words of encouragement. It was telling that his mind went straight to the people of Miller Springs, wasn’t it? Everyone he had ever trusted was right there, back in that town. And he was now flying thousands of miles away.
He pulled up the group chat with his ‘friends’ from back home. He’d muted it a while back, and he didn’t think they’d noticed his absence. Or at least, they’d not commented on it, which could have been their way of giving him some space or could have meant they had gotten so wasted at Rockapalooza that they’d literally forgotten he existed.
The chat was all about some party they were going to at a Swiss ski lodge later in the week. There was no way Emile could wade into it with a real problem. Even if they wanted to lend an ear, he didn’t think that Logan, Jacques and Raphael would have any wise words about losing the woman that you were falling in love with. None of them had ever had a relationship that lasted more than three weeks.
No, he was on his own here.
As he stared out of the window at the scenery below, he felt the nerves flutter to life in his stomach. It wasn’t just losing Kate. It was the return to Charcieux, too. For the first few months of his exile, he had thought of almost nothing except returning home and resuming his playboy lifestyle. But now, everything was different. He had changed. His whole world had changed. Would Charcieux have changed? Would his family have changed? He couldn’t imagine it.
What would they have told people about his absence? Would he be facing a triumphant return home or would he be expected to slink in through the back with his head bowed, still making amends for his sins?
He suddenly had a great desire to get very drunk and forget all about what lay behind — and in front — of him.
“Can I help you, sir?” the flight attendant asked, her face a mask of confusion as Emile appeared behind the curtain.
“Oh, just returning my empty glass — and I thought I’d see if you had any more champagne.”
“You don’t have to do that.” She looked a little panicked. “That’s my job, don’t worry.”
“Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry.” He’d forgotten what it was like to be waited on hand and foot, and he hadn’t meant to offend her. “You’re doing a great job, really.”
He flashed her one of his patented smiles, the one that had always gotten him out of trouble when he was behaving badly before. He never thought he’d have to use it under these circumstances.
“It’s no bother. Go and sit down, please.” The attendant took his empty glass and Emile made his way back to his seat. He’d barely gotten settled before she was there
“If there’s anything else, you know where to find me…” She gave him a pointed look on the words ‘anything else’, a look he had seen — and taken advantage of — many times before. His reputation preceded him, after all. But now, all he could think of was Kate.
“Thank you. That’s everything I need.” He said it as politely as he could.
He’d never turned down an offer like that before, certainly not from someone so pretty. He had absolutely no desire to touch another woman. To behave in the kind of way he did before he went to Miller Springs. He was forever changed by his relationship with Kate, but he didn’t know how he was going to move forward without her.
CHAPTER24
KATE
If Kate thought she’d been feeling bad when she woke up this morning, it was nothing to how she felt now that she’d watched Emile walk away.
She was like a zombie, taking orders and making meals on autopilot. It was a good thing that she’d been working at the cafe for years so it didn’t take much brainpower to pour coffees and cook omelets and clear plates, because all of her thoughts were occupied with what had just happened. She felt jittery and nauseous, and from the sympathetic looks that her customers were giving her, it was written all over her face.
She was grateful that no one asked; they obviously noticed that Emile wasn’t there but she hoped they’d not heard the altercation in the kitchen. Everyone in town knowing about her breakup was going to be mortifying enough without that added insult.
Breakup.
That’s what it was, wasn’t it? Her stomach lurched again.
She and Emile were broken up.
He had gone back to Charcieux.
She was never going to see him again.
Her whole body hurt with the pain of it, like her soul was being wrenched from her. He had promised that he was going to stay, and he’d left anyway. She’d been so sure that it was safe to open her heart to him, that they were both broken in the same ways and had come together to heal. But now she was left alone, questioning everything. Had he even been real? It sounded so absurd that a foreign prince had ended up in her cafe and that she had been falling in love with him before he had to return to his kingdom. That sort of thing didn’t happen to regular people. She’d almost believe that he was a figment of her imagination, except the pain was too real.
“You don’t seem like yourself today, dear,” Mrs. Lucas commented, as Kate poured her another cup of coffee.
“Yes, sugar, you look a little unwell,” Donna chimed in from across the tables.
