Built To Last

“Hey, Erin. How are you doing?” Ashley smiled as Erin approached the desk but continued pulling patient files for the day.

“Fine.” Erin rounded the counter and shoved her purse in the bottom drawer of her desk. As soon as Ashley headed down the hall to prep the treatment rooms, Erin slid her top drawer open and pulled out her resignation letter.

Her stomach churned as she stared at the crisp black words on the white paper.

She hadn’t slept a wink last night, staring at the shadows dancing on the ceiling most of the night. After she gave up on sleep, she went down to the beach, watching the seagulls walking along the water’s edge until the sun came up. She’d always gone to the beach when she needed to think. Or when she needed to get away from the constant… everything… about being with her father and sister. But this morning, the deep blues and pinks of the dawn sky bouncing off the waves as they crashed on the beach had brought her no comfort.

She shook her head. It did no good to wish for something that she couldn’t have. Her sister had a job, her father no longer needed her, and there was no future for a relationship with Jake. Nothing kept her in Laguna Beach anymore. She could finally pursue her dream.

She rubbed the tattoo on her wrist and then grabbed a pen.

The tinkle of the bell above the door announced a new arrival. She lifted her head just in time to see Jake stride through the door like he hadn’t torn her heart out and ripped it into a thousand pieces.

The letter fell through her fingers and flitted to the desk. She didn’t want him to see how he’d affected her. She shuffled the paper into her top drawer and slammed it shut.

Jake’s looked like she felt, his eyes bloodshot and his hair disheveled. But she didn’t know why. Her fingers itched to wrap her arms around him, to comfort him and tell him everything was going to be okay.

Stop it, Erin. She needed to get a hold of herself. This thought process was unproductive.

He stepped up to the counter, his lips pressed into a thin line and none of the spirit in his eyes that she’d come to love. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Are you free for lunch?”

“You came in to ask me that?”

He stepped around the counter, crowding into her space. Before last night, she would have appreciated the intimacy of his action. Now, his presence confused her even more than she had been.

“No, sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. How are you?” He leaned down to kiss her but she turned her head and his lips landed on her cheek. He pulled back, confusion flooding his gaze. “How was your evening?”

“It was fine. Yours?”

“Fine.”

Jake stood beside her desk for a moment, the silence growing unbearable between them, before he spoke again. “I’m actually here to see Austin. But I did want to take you to lunch, if you’re free.”

Her heart and her head were at war over his request. On the one hand, she was dying to know who the woman was that had captured his attention last night. On the other hand, she was afraid to hear his response, fearing she was once again on the losing end of something good in her life. But either way, she had to know. “Okay.”

Jake ran his hand down Erin’s arm and grabbed her hand.

She tensed.

His thumb whispered over her knuckles and he lowered his voice, the huskiness reminding her of the quiet evenings they had shared together. “I missed you last night.”

She mumbled a response. “Let me go see if Austin is free.” Then she turned on her heel and rushed down the hall, stepping into an open treatment room before Jake could see her tears.

* * *

Erin had run away from him. She’d never done that before. What happened since he spoke to her yesterday?

After dropping Lindsay off at her hotel, he’d lain awake all night, turning everything Lindsay said to him over in his mind. In the end, he came to the conclusion that he should trust his heart. He loved Erin and he saw his future with her. Not Lindsay. He would declare his love for Erin at lunch today, tell her about his dinner with Lindsay, and talk about their future together.

As he spun around to her desk, he spied a piece of paper stuck out from a drawer. He pulled the drawer open to tuck the paper in and the words on the page caught his attention. He pulled the page out to read it completely.

Dear Austin,

I want to start off by telling you how much I love working for you and the entire staff. Writing this letter is so hard. Your support has been invaluable while I finished my degree and took care of my family. But the time has come to leave the Taylor Wellness Center.