Page 44 of The Cinnamon Spice Inn (Maple Falls #1)

THIRTY-SEVEN

MADISON

The fire crackled softly, flicking pops of orange and yellow against the inky nighttime sky. The lake stretched out beyond them, glassy and still. The moon was hidden, making the night seem quieter, hushed.

The festival had moved further down from the inn to the lakefront park, where live music, food vendors, and a beer tent would keep locals entertained through the night.

Here, it was just them.

Madison eyed the cabin, just down the hill, wondering if she should have this conversation out here in the open, or inside, in private. Because there was something she needed to say. Something she should’ve said a long time ago but had never been brave enough.

Zach sat back in the Adirondack chair, legs sprawled, a half-finished cider forgotten beside him.

Madison lingered near the firepit, arms crossed loosely, her dress fluttering in the breeze. She decided, Screw it, best to have the conversation and get it over with.

She took a deep breath and crossed the few steps toward him.

“Zach,” she said quietly.

He looked up, seemingly surprised to hear the seriousness in her voice. “What, what is it?” Zach immediately went on alert.

“I just want to apologize,” she started to say before stopping, taking a moment to control her emotions. She cleared her throat. “For what happened when I left. For how it all fell apart. For never properly talking to you about it all.”

Zach’s silence gave her the space to continue.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen that way.” She closed her eyes, remembering the anxiety and the excitement of those early days. How much she loved the big city, immersing herself in the culinary world, and that world opening to her.

“Partly I was hurt. I wanted you to come with me, or at least to fight for me to stay. I guess we could have made it work long-distance and I should have made more effort. But I just got so caught up in my new life; it was a whirlwind, and I was so young.

“And then I saw you that night at the Kettle and I… I jumped to conclusions. I let it hurt me, and I let it push me away. I never asked you what really happened. I just… assumed.” Her voice cracked, tears threatening. “The point is, I never looked back, and it was wrong.”

Madison braced herself for Zach to cut in. To tell her how much she had hurt him, how badly she’d messed up.

But he didn’t say anything. He just watched her, that guarded, quiet intensity in his eyes. She could see the pain lingering there, and it bit into her heart.

She took a steadying breath, forcing herself to meet his gaze head-on. “I thought… at first I thought if I worked hard enough, if I chased it all, I could somehow have everything—” She broke off, forcing the tears to stay away. “But somewhere along the way, I lost sight of what mattered most.”

Zach shook his head. “You mattered most to me,” he said simply.

“You did to me too,” she whispered. “Even when I tried to convince myself you didn’t.”

Zach stood and closed the distance between them. “You’re here now,” he said.

Madison’s breath caught as he reached for her. Not roughly, not urgently—just a slow, deliberate pull, like he’d been waiting years to do it right.

His hand found her waist, sliding over the soft fabric of her dress, pulling her close to him.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. She could feel the strength in his touch, the quiet desperation he’d kept bottled up for far too long.

She tilted her chin up, eyes pouring into his.

There was no hesitation in Zach now. No distance. Only them.

When his mouth finally met hers, it was both fierce and aching, like a dam breaking wide open. Madison’s fingers fisted the front of his shirt, dragging him closer.

Zach deepened the kiss immediately, his mouth demanding, his body pressing her back toward the Adirondack chair by the firepit.

Zach dropped heavily into the chair, pulling her with him, settling her astride his lap.

Her dress bunched around her thighs as she straddled him, her knees bracketing his hips, her breath coming in ragged gasps. His hands slid up her sides, palms hot through the thin material.

Her own hands found the back of his neck, tracing the warm, strong line of him as he crushed her mouth against his again.

Everything else, the fire crackling beside them, the cool night air, the entire town only a few hundred yards away, faded to nothing.

It was just Madison and Zach, laid bare, rediscovering everything they’d thought they’d lost.

His fingers slipped under the hem of her dress, teasing along the curve of her thigh. She tugged at the button of his jeans until she freed him, her hands stroking him with a tenderness that made him shudder.

“Jesus, Mads,” he whispered.

“I want you,” she replied, sliding her panties aside.

Zach groaned low in his throat as he guided her down onto him. He kissed her throat, her collarbone, and she moaned with every roll of her hips.

“You drive me crazy,” he fought to get out.

“You love it,” she teased, breathless.

“I do,” he growled.

The rhythm built between them, their breaths syncing. She felt the pleasure coiling tighter and tighter inside until she thought she might come apart in his arms.

Zach’s hands slipped beneath her dress, palming her ass, and she bit her lip hard, wanting it to last for longer.

Zach caught her chin, forcing her to look at him. “Don’t hold back,” he said. “Let me see you.”

That was her undoing.

Madisoncame, her body tightening around him, her cry muffled against his neck.

Zach was right there with her.

The air felt cooler despite the heat at her back.

Madison leaned against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her.

One hand slid up into her hair, cradling the back of her head, while the other splayed across her lower back, keeping her anchored.

Her body still trembled with the last waves of pleasure.

Neither spoke, leaning into the moment. The memories. The realization of how good it still felt to be together after so many years apart.

Madison finally pulled back, tipping her face up. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of this, of you.”

“I know,” Zach said, his voice rough. “I’d want this in any lifetime, in any world. Always you. I love you, Madison.”

His eyes met hers and her breath caught in her throat as she saw it all. The universe of love that had never left. The ripping pain of falling apart. The wonder of being back in each other’s arms.

There were words forming on her tongue, but she couldn’t get them out. Her chest ached from how badly she wanted this to last. With how badly she wished they hadn’t spent all these years apart.

But what would happen to them now?

Zach exhaled and kissed her forehead.

She blinked back sudden tears. “What are we doing, Zach?”

He hesitated, and for a moment she thought he might deflect, crack a joke, pull away. But then his brow furrowed like he was trying to form a truth he hadn’t let himself speak aloud.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen when you go back,” he admitted. “And it scares the hell out of me.”

Madison’s throat tightened.

“But I do know this,” he continued. “I’m not going to pretend I don’t love you anymore. I’m not going to act like this doesn’t matter.”

She pressed a hand to his chest. “It matters. You matter,” she said, stumbling over the words as if she’d forgotten how to talk.

His arms squeezed around her.

Madison looked up at the stars overhead—so many, scattered across the sky.

She leaned in and kissed him, slow and deep, sinking into it with every part of her. She hoped that in that kiss, he could feel what was carved onto her soul.

And when she pulled back, her voice was barely a whisper. “I don’t want this to end.”

Zach pressed his forehead to hers. “Then don’t let it.”