Page 38 of The Cinnamon Spice Inn (Maple Falls #1)

THIRTY-ONE

MADISON

Madison hadn’t gone up to bed yet. She’d just been sitting there, reading her book, trying to focus on the pages while her eyes kept drifting up to the window.

Then the honeymoon cabin light flicked on.

She headed out the back door, into the cold night, without a second thought.

Adrenaline pulsing through her veins, she let her legs march her all the way to the cabin, and she knocked on the door, hard.

She was so tired of the emotional back and forth. Tired of the games they were playing with each other. Tired of him kissing her one minute and giving her the cold shoulder the next.

It was ridiculous. It was infuriating. It was madness. And one way or another, tonight, she was getting answers.

All Zach needed to do was open the blasted door.

Nothing. Silence. She forced herself to slow her breathing and look around, calm her nervous system before she knocked again.

The air was crisp and full of fall; she could see her breath in front of her.

The lake stretched out, black and endless under the moonlight, the surface rippling in the chilly breeze.

She was just about to knock again when Zach finally opened the door. He looked tired, and somehow vulnerable, his hair messed through.

“We need to talk,” Madison said, voice sharp, anger flaring.

Zach frowned but stepped outside onto the porch, letting the door swing shut behind him. So, he wasn’t going to invite her in, then.

They stood there for a beat, the cold biting at Madison’s skin, the firelight from inside casting a soft glow around them.

It didn’t take long for the fight to start.

“I shouldn’t have kissed you,” Zach muttered, voice low. “It was wrong. And if I had known?—”

Madison’s frustration boiled over. “Why do you keep saying it was a mistake? Why do you keep apologizing?”

Zach’s gaze locked on hers, his hazel eyes so calm and steady it infuriated her.

“Don’t you get it?” she continued, the words tumbling out. “Being with you… it’s what I’ve wanted all along. Do you have any idea what it felt like to finally have that happen, us kissing, being together—to finally have you again only for you to throw it in my face and call it a mistake?”

The words were messy, raw, and unfiltered, and hot tears spilled from her eyes.

Zach’s jaw clenched. “But you’re seeing someone back in New York,” he said softly.

Madison blinked. “I—Whaaaaat?”

His calm demeanor finally broken, Zach threw his hands up in frustration. “Jo, Madison! Jo.”

Madison’s brow furrowed. “Jo?”

Zach let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Yeah, Jo. The guy blowing up your phone with…” He made a wild gesture. “Dick pics. Eggplants. Squirting emojis. God knows what else.”

Madison stared at him like he was from another planet. “Jo? Are you freaking kidding me?”

Zach narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, Jo. What the hell is so funny?”

Madison glared. “Jo is a woman. She’s my best friend. Her name is Jolene.” Madison shook her head. She couldn’t believe this was happening. “And, for the record, when she sent those flirtatious eggplants, she was teasing me about you .”

“And the…”

“Dick pic? Mr. October from her Hot Hunks calendar. She likes to send me the good ones.” Madison continued to stare at Zach. He just stood there, processing.

“She’s a woman?” he repeated.

“Yes. And very much into men.” Madison was pissed. All this angst because of an ill-timed text message.

“You’re serious?”

“One hundred percent.”

Zach stood there, silent, stunned.

Madison crossed her arms. “So let me get this straight. You pushed me away because you thought I had a boyfriend? And you didn’t think to ask me about it?”

“What was I supposed to think? You and I don’t talk. And I sure as hell wasn’t about to share you with another man.” Zach lifted his gaze to hers. And she saw it—the wrecked look in his eyes. The regret. The yearning. All there, a deep ocean beneath the calm surface he usually showed.

A coyote howled nearby, its call echoing in the trees.

Madison could see the tension in Zach’s shoulders, his jaw.

Her throat went dry. She swallowed, trying to find her voice. “Zach…”

She shifted her weight toward him slightly.

Zach’s eyes darkened. Madison swallowed. He wasn’t touching her, but she felt him everywhere.

She longed to reach out and close the distance. To wrap her arms around his waist, and feel the warmth of his body.

Zach’s fingers flexed at his side like he was fighting himself. Like he wanted all of that, too.

She knew exactly how he’d feel against her. How hard he would be.

She knew how his hands would fit on her waist. How his mouth would feel as it claimed hers.

Heat pooled low in her stomach, a slow, aching burn.

If he touched her, she knew she’d fall.

If she reached for him, she knew he’d let her.

“Mads,” Zach rasped, voice wrecked. “Do you want to come in?”

She nodded once, unable to speak.

The cabin smelled like pine and warm leather.

The fireplace was lit, flickering its soft light along the honeyed wood walls.

Madison’s eyes swept the space, taking in all the changes Zach had made.

The four-poster bed looked newer, the sheets fresh and inviting.

But the essence of what this place had been for them was still here.

Her gaze caught on the window ledge. The carvings. Their initials.

A log turned, and she looked at the fireplace, sparks flying.

“Is this new?” she asked, running her fingers along the wooden mantel.

Zach shrugged. “It’s from the old maple tree. Thought it was important to keep it.”

Madison swallowed as tears swam in her eyes. “I love that,” she said, clearing her throat.

She tried to focus on something else, anything else, to keep from getting all emotional. She took in the rest of the room. “You kept a lot of it the same.”

A shadow flickered across Zach’s expression. “Some things shouldn’t change. This place… it means something to me.”

Their eyes locked.

The air between them shifted, memories rushing in fast and unfiltered.

The late-night laughter when they were barely adults, lying out under the stars, talking about everything they wanted from life.

Bodies tangled on that old worn leather couch, sharing whispered dreams about the future—about a home with a porch and a view of the lake. A place full of laughter, dogs underfoot, coffee cups left half-finished because life was too good to rush through.

Zach moved over to the kitchen area and pulled out some mugs while she moved around the cabin, running her hands along the couch, along the window ledge and the mantel.

“Are you alright?” Zach asked as he came over with a mug.

Madison readily accepted it, grateful for something to do with her hands, something to keep her lips from betraying her thoughts. The cup was warm in her hands, and she brought it to her lips, expecting a calming sip of tea—only to nearly choke.

She sputtered, coughing as her eyes widened. “Bourbon?”

“Just a splash,” Zach admitted, the corner of his mouth twitching into an unapologetic grin.

Madison shot him a mock glare but took a second sip, this time prepared for the fiery warmth that followed.

The bourbon wasn’t overpowering—it was just enough to loosen the tension that had gripped her chest since she’d walked through the door.

It made her feel warm and relaxed, and was just what she needed.

Zach gestured toward the couch; his expression betrayed his emotions before he could mask it. “Make yourself comfortable.”

She sank into the cushions, her fingers brushing against the fleece blanket beside her. She looked down at her hands, unsure of what to say. Did they have to talk? Could she not just follow what her body longed to do?

Zach sat beside her, their knees brushing. The fireplace crackled, and she shivered despite the heat. He was staring at her, his gaze so intense, so unflinching, it pinned her right there, breathless. She swallowed hard, but it did nothing to steady the frantic rhythm of her heart.

This wasn’t just old chemistry sparking to life.

This was something different. Something bigger.

Madison could feel it deep down, deeper than all the scars and years apart. She was falling in love with him all over again. No walls. No running away. No excuses.

Just that terrifying, beautiful feeling of being cracked wide open.

And she could see it in his eyes, too.

The way he looked at her now, like she was something he needed to be alive, like she was his life force, more vital than the blood pumping through his veins.

There was no turning back from this. Tonight, they weren’t going to hold back.

Tonight, they were going to remember exactly what it felt like to belong to each other.

Their eyes met again, and she knew.

This was the moment before the fall.