"You are sharing it. I'm showing you everything—"
"I know. But Lucy, this is your world now. Paris, culinary school, Amelie and James. And I'm just the guy who flew in for a week. The tourist boyfriend."
"You're not a tourist. You're—" Lucy stopped. Because maybe Jake was right. Maybe he was visiting her world instead of being part of it.
"I don't mean this as criticism," Jake said gently. "I'm happy for you. Proud of you. But I'm also realizing that the life you're building here—it's real. It's not temporary."
"I'm coming home in four months."
"Are you?"
The question hung between them.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm coming home. We talked about this—six months in Paris, then back to Timber Falls to open my restaurant."
"I know that was the plan. But Lucy—what if you don't want to come back? What if Paris is where you're supposed to be?"
"I—" Lucy sat up, pulling the sheet around herself. "Where is this coming from?"
"From watching you today. You lit up showing me your school. You talked about Chef Laurent with this mix of fear and admiration. You navigate this city like you've lived here your whole life. You're happy here."
"I'm happy but I'm also homesick. I miss Timber Falls. I miss you."
"Do you? Or is that just what you think you're supposed to feel?"
Lucy felt anger flare. "Don't tell me what I feel."
"I'm not. I'm asking if you've really thought about what happens in four months. If you've considered that maybe your plans need to change."
"My plans haven't changed. Six months in Paris, then home. That was always the plan."
"Plans change, Lucy. People change. It's okay if you've changed."
"I haven't changed!"
But even as she said it, Lucy knew it was a lie. She had changed. Paris had changed her. She was more confident, more independent, more sure of herself than she'd been in Timber Falls.
But that didn't mean she didn't love Jake. Didn't mean she didn't want to go home.
Did it?
The week in Paris was wonderful and terrible in equal measure.
Jake spent his days with Lucy—visiting museums, eating at tiny bistros, walking through neighborhoods she'd discovered. In the evenings, Lucy had classes or study sessions, so Jake explored alone or went back to his hotel to sleep.
The time together was good. The sex was incredible. But there was this undercurrent of tension that neither of them acknowledged.
On Wednesday, Lucy took him to her Wednesday routine—the café where she and her cohort studied after morning classes.
Amelie, James, and Yuki were already there when they arrived.
"Jake!" Amelie greeted him like an old friend. "Sit, sit. We're discussing Chef Laurent's latest impossible assignment."
Jake sat, feeling immediately out of place. The conversation was all in culinary terms he didn't understand—lamination and tempering and sous vide techniques. Lucy jumped in enthusiastically, debating with James about the proper temperature for chocolate work.
Jake sipped his coffee and tried to follow along.
"What do you think, Jake?" James asked at one point. "Milk chocolate or dark chocolate for mousse?"
