He looked older. More tired. But also—good. Really good.
Lucy's breath caught.
Jake looked up and saw her. Their eyes met across the tavern, and for a moment, neither moved.
Then Lucy forced herself to walk to his table.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi."
They sat down across from each other, and the silence was deafening.
"You look good," Lucy finally said. "Coaching agrees with you."
"Thanks. You look—" Jake paused. "Tired. Paris was rough?"
"It wasn't what I expected."
"What were you expecting?"
"I don't know. Growth. Adventure. Becoming someone beyond my grandmother's granddaughter." Lucy twisted her hands together. "I got all that. But I also got—miserable. Lonely. Completely certain I'd made the wrong choice."
"So you came back."
"So I came back."
Jake was quiet for a moment. Then: "Why?"
"Why did I come back?"
"Yeah. Why now? Why after three months?"
Lucy took a breath. This was it. The moment to be honest. To risk everything.
"Because I missed home. I missed Uncle Walter and Rei and Mae. I missed snow and knowing everyone's name and Wednesday morning routines." Lucy looked directly at Jake. "And I missed you. Every single day. I made the biggest mistake of my life choosing Paris over you, and I spent three months realizing it. So I came back. To fix it. If I can."
Jake's expression was unreadable. "Lucy—"
"Let me finish. Please. I need to say this." Lucy felt tears start but didn't try to stop them. "I was so scared of being defined by other people's expectations that I ran away from everything that actually mattered. I convinced myself Paris was my dream when really, my dream was always here. Opening my own restaurant. Being part of this community. Being with you."
"For how long?"
"What?"
"For how long do I have you this time? Six months? A year? Until the next opportunity comes along?"
Lucy felt like she'd been slapped. "Jake, that's not fair—"
"Isn't it? Lucy, you left. You chose Paris over us. Over me. And now you're back, and I'm supposed to just—what? Forget the past three months? Pretend it didn't happen?"
"No. I'm not asking you to forget. I'm asking you to forgive. To give me another chance."
"Why should I?"
"Because I love you! Because I made a mistake and I'm owning it and I'm here, asking you to try again. Because what we had was real and I was an idiot for walking away from it."
Jake was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was gentle but firm. "Lucy, I spent three months healing. Three months learning to live without you. Three months building a life that felt whole even with you gone. And I'm finally—I'm finally okay."
