Updated Apr 19, 2026 • ~10 min read
Chapter 19: Marcus Shows up
Quinn
Quinn is restocking the bakery display case on a Thursday afternoon two weeks after going public with Asher—two blissfully normal weeks of openly holding hands on Main Street, family dinners without hiding, and Ruby gleefully announcing to everyone who’ll listen that “Daddy and Quinn are dating!”—when a man walks through the bakery door who makes Quinn’s blood run cold with recognition.
Marcus.
Her ex-fiancé, standing in her bakery in Maplewood, Vermont, wearing his expensive Manhattan suit and that confident smile that used to make her heart flutter but now just makes her nauseous.
“Quinn! I found you!” Marcus announces like he’s accomplished some great feat, and his voice is exactly the same—smooth and charming and ultimately fake in ways Quinn didn’t recognize until after he destroyed her trust.
“What are you doing here?!” Quinn asks, her voice sharper than she intended, and she’s aware that Mrs. Peterson and two other customers are watching this interaction with undisguised interest.
“I came to see you,” Marcus says, approaching the counter like he has every right to be here. “We need to talk. I made a mistake—”
“You cheated on me one week before our wedding,” Quinn interrupts, keeping her voice low but firm. “There’s nothing to talk about. You need to leave.”
“Quinn, please,” Marcus says, and he’s using that earnest expression that used to work on her, that combination of regret and sincerity that makes you want to forgive him. “I was wrong. I was an idiot. But I realized—Sarah wasn’t the one. You were. You are. I want you back.”
Quinn stares at him, trying to process the audacity of showing up in her new life four months after she caught him cheating, and she’s torn between laughing at the absurdity and screaming at the violation of her carefully built peace.
“I broke off the engagement with her,” Marcus continues, apparently interpreting Quinn’s silence as interest. “I realized you’re the one. We can start over. I’m willing to relocate here if that’s what you want—”
“You’re engaged to the woman you cheated with?!” Quinn’s voice rises despite her attempts at control, and Mrs. Peterson is definitely taking notes for the town gossip network.
“Was engaged,” Marcus corrects. “Past tense. I ended it because I realized my mistake. Quinn, we were together five years. We planned a life together. That doesn’t just disappear because of one mistake—”
“You slept with your coworker repeatedly for six months,” Quinn says flatly. “That’s not ‘one mistake’—that’s a pattern of choices that showed me exactly who you are.”
“I was confused,” Marcus argues. “Scared of commitment. But I’ve had time to think, and I know now that you’re what I want. We can fix this. Move back to New York, plan a new wedding, start fresh—”
“Absolutely not,” Quinn says, and her voice is steady despite the rage building in her chest. “I don’t want to move back to New York. I don’t want to plan a wedding with you. I don’t want anything to do with you. You need to leave.”
“Quinn, be reasonable—” Marcus starts, reaching across the counter to touch her hand.
Quinn yanks her hand back like he’s burned her, and that’s when Asher walks in.
Asher, who was supposed to meet her after her shift for their now-public coffee dates, who walks into the bakery expecting his girlfriend and instead finds her being harassed by a strange man who’s clearly upsetting her.
The protective mode activates immediately—Quinn can see it in the way Asher’s posture changes, the way his eyes narrow taking in the scene, the way he crosses to Quinn without hesitation.
“Is there a problem?” Asher asks, and his voice has that dangerous quiet quality that Quinn imagines he uses when dealing with emergencies.
Marcus sizes up Asher with barely concealed disdain—taking in the fire department t-shirt, the practical jeans, the small-town appearance that’s so completely opposite to Marcus’s Manhattan polish.
“No problem,” Marcus says with false friendliness. “Just catching up with my fiancée.”
“Ex-fiancée,” Quinn corrects sharply. “Asher, this is Marcus. My ex. He was just leaving.”
Asher’s expression doesn’t change, but Quinn sees his jaw tighten with understanding—this is the man who cheated on Quinn, who destroyed her trust, who’s now appearing uninvited in her new life.
“She asked you to leave,” Asher says to Marcus with that same dangerous quiet. “I suggest you do that.”
“And you are?” Marcus asks with condescension that makes Quinn want to throw croissants at his head.
“I’m Asher,” he says simply. “Quinn’s boyfriend. And you need to leave.”
Marcus laughs—actually laughs—like the concept of Quinn with someone like Asher is amusing.
“Boyfriend,” Marcus repeats with that condescending tone. “You moved on fast, Quinn. Four months ago you were planning to marry me, and now you’re dating a small-town firefighter?”
“You cheated on me four months ago,” Quinn corrects coldly. “I don’t owe you anything. Least of all an explanation about my relationships.”
“Come on, Quinn,” Marcus says, ignoring Asher entirely now. “You’re a sophisticated Manhattan woman. You’re used to culture, restaurants, theater, the city. What is there for you here? A bakery in a town of three thousand people? Dating a firefighter? You’ll get bored within a year.”
Quinn feels fury rising—fury at his assumption that she needs Manhattan to be happy, fury at his dismissal of Maplewood and everything she’s built here, fury at his casual insult of Asher who’s worth ten of Marcus on his worst day.
“I love it here,” Quinn says firmly. “I love my bakery. I love this town. I love my life. And I love Asher. You need to leave. Now.”
“Quinn—” Marcus tries again, but Asher steps forward with the kind of presence that comes from years of commanding respect at emergency scenes.
“She told you to leave,” Asher says, and there’s steel under the quiet now. “That’s not a request. That’s a statement. You’re not welcome here. Go.”
Marcus looks between Quinn and Asher, clearly calculating whether pushing further is worth the confrontation, and apparently decides it’s not because he backs toward the door with his hands raised in false surrender.
“I’m staying at the inn,” Marcus says to Quinn. “When you come to your senses and realize small-town life isn’t what you thought it would be, call me. We can fix this.”
“Don’t hold your breath,” Quinn says coldly, and Marcus leaves with a final condescending look that makes Quinn want to scream.
The moment the door closes, Mrs. Peterson and the other customers erupt into excited chatter—clearly already planning how to spread this story across town—and Quinn slumps against the counter trying to process what just happened.
“Are you okay?” Asher asks gently, his hand on her back providing steady comfort.
“I’m furious,” Quinn admits. “And embarrassed that he showed up here. And terrified that—”
She stops, not wanting to voice the fear Marcus planted with his casual cruelty about her getting bored.
“Terrified that what?” Asher prompts, and Quinn can hear concern in his voice.
“Nothing,” Quinn says quickly. “Can we talk about this later? After I close? I need to process and I can’t do that with an audience.”
She gestures to Mrs. Peterson and the others who are clearly listening to every word despite pretending to examine pastries.
“Of course,” Asher says. “I’ll come by tonight. We’ll talk.”
He kisses her forehead—a gesture of comfort rather than romance—and leaves, and Quinn spends the rest of her shift fielding questions from customers about “that fancy city man who showed up” and trying not to think about Marcus’s words echoing in her head.
You’ll get bored within a year.
She won’t.
She won’t get bored.
She loves Maplewood, loves her bakery, loves Asher and Ruby and the life she’s building.
But Marcus’s voice lingers anyway, planting seeds of doubt that Quinn desperately doesn’t want to acknowledge.
That night, Mabel appears at the bakery as Quinn is closing, carrying two cups of coffee and wearing an expression that suggests she’s heard about the Marcus situation and has opinions.
“Heard your ex showed up,” Mabel says without preamble, handing Quinn a coffee. “Want to talk about it?”
Quinn locks the bakery door and settles at one of the small tables with Mabel, grateful for the friend who knows when talking is necessary even when you don’t want to.
“He said I’ll get bored here,” Quinn admits quietly. “That I’m a Manhattan woman and Maplewood isn’t enough for me. That I’ll realize small-town life isn’t what I thought and go back to the city.”
“And you’re worried he might be right?” Mabel asks gently.
“No!” Quinn says immediately. “I love it here. I love my life. But what if there’s some truth to it? What if eventually I miss the city? What if I get restless? What if I hurt Asher and Ruby because I realize too late that this isn’t what I want?”
“Quinn,” Mabel says firmly. “Marcus is trying to manipulate you. He wants you back, so he’s planting doubt about your choices. Don’t let him get in your head.”
“But what if—”
“No what-ifs,” Mabel interrupts. “You’ve been here four months. Are you bored?”
“No,” Quinn admits.
“Are you missing Manhattan?”
“Not even a little.”
“Are you happy here? With Asher? With Ruby? With the bakery and the town and this life?”
“Yes,” Quinn says, and saying it out loud makes it more real. “I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”
“Then Marcus is wrong,” Mabel says simply. “And you need to tell Asher that, because he’s probably spiraling right now worrying that Marcus is right and you’ll leave.”
Quinn’s heart sinks because Mabel’s right—Asher already fears loss, already worries about people leaving, and Marcus’s casual prediction about Quinn getting bored probably activated every insecurity Asher has.
“I need to talk to him,” Quinn says, standing abruptly. “Tonight. Before he convinces himself I’m going to leave.”
“Good,” Mabel approves. “And Quinn? That man showing up here in his expensive suit talking about culture and sophistication? He looked ridiculous. Completely out of place. But you? You look like you belong here. You fit. Anyone can see that except apparently your ex-fiancé who’s too self-absorbed to notice you’ve found something real.”
Quinn hugs Mabel—grateful for the wisdom and the friendship and the reminder that Maplewood is home in ways Manhattan never was—and she heads to Asher’s house to have the conversation they need to have before Marcus’s poison takes root.
But when she arrives, Cole is sitting on Asher’s porch with a grim expression that suggests Asher’s already spiraling exactly like Mabel predicted.
“He’s inside,” Cole says. “Convinced himself you’re going to leave. Sent Ruby to my place for the night because he doesn’t want her to see him having a breakdown. You need to talk to him.”
Quinn steels herself and walks into Asher’s house, and what she finds breaks her heart—Asher sitting on his couch with his head in his hands, looking exactly like someone who’s convinced he’s about to lose everything.
Again.
“Asher,” Quinn says softly, and he looks up with eyes that are devastated.
“Is he right?” Asher asks quietly. “Will you get bored here? Am I just… a rebound? A small-town novelty that’ll wear off when you realize what you’re missing?”
And Quinn knows that this conversation—how she handles this moment—will determine everything that comes next.
So she crosses to Asher, takes his hands, and tells him the truth even though the words are terrifying to say out loud.
“You’re not a rebound,” Quinn says firmly. “You’re my future. This town is my home. And I’m not going anywhere.”
But she can see the doubt in his eyes.
And she knows that Marcus showing up has damaged something fragile that they were just beginning to build.
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