Page 45 of The Matchmaker's Cottage

“Crap—” Did he have cash? Who carried cash?

Rolling her eyes so far back it could be considered a seismic event, Julia shouldered past him.

“I got it.”

Paying for both their hot chocolates in a way that was both pitying and as intentionally emasculating as she could have mustered, she handed him his—extra whipped cream, insisted upon by her—and then took a sip of hers and sighed deeply in enjoyment of the hot beverage.

“Thanks, Jerry.” There was that Gem smile again, directed at yet another person who wasn’t him. “Have a good day.”

“You too, Julia!” With a wave, they were on their way again, following Katy and Noah into—sure enough—a candle store.

The smell hit him immediately, an olfactory cacophony of scents assaulting his nostrils. He let out a discreet sneeze into his fist, disguising it as a cough, which he felt, somewhat arbitrarily, would be the more polite option.

He caught Julia’s look out of the corner of his eye, the way her lips pressed together to hide a small smirk. She probably knew exactly how the scents of the candle shop affected him and was sure she was reveling in his discomfort. He stood up straighter and made an effort to breathe through his mouth, focusing on the task at hand.

Once Julia’s attention drifted away from him, Ethan realized she knew the owner—and so did he. He recalled her name was Helen and realized belatedly that the candle store was yet another relic of his familiar past, one he had let slip from his memory bank when he had moved on from Highbury and fromthe cottage. Helen hadn’t noticed him yet, though, and was still focused on Julia.

“Can I get you any more scents for the different rooms?” she said, her hands rubbing together with unbridled enthusiasm.

Julia chuckled and patted her lightly on the shoulder. “Helen, you know ever since the incident with the Barretts, we’ve banned candles from the rooms and common areas. But I’ll definitely be back soon to replace some of my personal stash.”

“At least you can trust yourself with fire,” Helen said with a knowing smile, giving a small rueful shrug.

“Yes, at least.” Julia’s smile was warm and soft, but Ethan could see it didn’t reach her eyes completely.

Then Helen’s eyes shifted to him, and she blinked, almost as if she needed to double-check she was really seeing him there, before everything about her brightened in an instant.

“Ethan?” she said, her voice soft with astonishment. “Ethan Duchamp?” She let out a little gasp and her hand flew to her mouth. “I can’t believe it—it’s been…what, almost fifteen years?” Her eyes darted between them. “Both of you—together again. I thought I’d never see the day. How are your parents?”

He must have answered something polite and acceptable that wasn’t cause for alarm, but afterward, he couldn’t for the life of him recall what that might have been. The breathless delight in her voice and Julia’s soft, strained laugh did little to lighten the sudden heaviness in the air, which had nothing to do with the plethora of assaulting scents.

He managed to make small talk with Helen for a few more minutes—Julia was no help, sneaking away once Helen had gotten rolling—until he finally extricated himself from the conversation with the promise to let his parents know she had said hi.

Moving through the store, he caught a glimpse of Noah and Katy in the Autumn Scents section, laughing quietly and holding out candles for each other to sniff, oblivious to the decades-old thread that seemed to be tying everything together around him.

Before Ethan could react, Julia reappeared beside him, taking her phone from her jacket pocket and snapping a few quick pictures with it. She glanced at him sideways afterward, almost guiltily, and then rolled her eyes and shrugged.

“I’m Maria,” she said, resigned. “I’ll send you the pictures.”

“Thanks.”

Julia moved on to another section of candles, still fiddling with her phone, and Ethan surreptitiously looked at his, waiting for her text notification to come through. When it did, about half a minute later, his eyes zeroed in on her name at the top, the one he’d never changed, mocking him as it always did when he scrolled through his contacts quickly. Maybe looking for George in Accounting. Or Geoff in Finance. But always pausing on Gem.

Gem.

Stupid nickname. Stupidbrain, forcing all the old feelings to bubble back up. He’d been perfectly fine living his life in New York without her.

As his thoughts meandered, Katy and Noah were already making their way out of the candle shop and crossing the street to another vendor, selling honey-roasted peanuts.

“How quaint.” Ethan didn’t realize he’d given voice to his thoughts until the words were out.

Julia looked at him sharply, and he understood why—he’d sounded judgmental, sardonic even, especially to someone whoexpected the worst from him. But he’d meant it genuinely, and he didn’t want her to think he was somehow looking down on this town, onher.

“No, really,” he insisted, chucking his empty hot chocolate cup—When did that happen?He couldn’t even remember drinking it, let alone finishing it, though his sugar-induced heart palpitations did say otherwise—into a nearby garbage can as they crossed the street. “It’s so nice. I find it hard to believe I’m somewhere in New York State and not, like, a Canadian small town disguised as a Hallmark movie.”

“How easy it is to forget,” Julia said lightly, her hands still wrapped around her own cup of hot chocolate.

It wasn’t a jab, exactly. More like an observation. One he didn’t have to comment on, because she continued: “You’re all obsessed with Hallmark movies. I feel like this is the hundredth reference you’ve made at this point.”