Built To Last

Please consider this my resignation. After all the wonderful years working with you, it’s time for me to experience the adventures I’ve always wanted and never had the chance to take. I can’t wait to travel to some of the far-off places I’ve only read about.

Your support during these past five years has made this chance possible. Leaving this job and my friends is my only regret.

Thanks so much for your support and love.

Sincerely,

Erin Johnson

A sharp pain stabbed Jake in his heart. His breath came in spurts. Maybe he was having a heart attack like he’d thought last night. Only today it wasn’t about Lindsay.

He checked the date on the letter. It had been written before she’d even met him. Erin had been planning to leave when she started seeing him.

Had she been stringing him along all this time?

Voices carried down the hall and Jake threw the paper bac

k in the drawer and shoved it closed just as Austin and Erin walked up.

“Hey, man. What’s up?”

“Nothing. I need to run.” He rushed around the desk. “Something’s come up. I’ll call you later, okay?” He turned to Erin. “Zinc at 12:30 sound okay?”

She nodded.

He rushed out the door before he dragged her into a treatment room and demanded she explain the letter he just read. But that would do neither of them any good. What he needed was a plan.

After the door closed behind him, he moved away from the front windows and sagged against the wall. He stared up at the bright blue sky and drew in a few deep breaths. How in the heck did he find himself right back where he was when Lindsay rejected his proposal? He’d tried so hard to protect himself. To not get involved with someone who didn’t want the same things he did.

Erin’s reluctance to discuss the future should have been a red flag. It was a red flag—he just chose to ignore it because he was in love with her.

But standing here feeling sorry for himself wasn’t doing him any good. He slogged his way to his truck and pulled himself in. His hand hung over the ignition, key in hand, but he didn’t start the engine.

Twenty-four hours ago, he had a woman he loved and was thinking about the future with. Now, the Erin was planning to leave him and the woman he’d finally gotten over wanted another chance. For once, he didn’t know what to do. There was no way he could focus on the job site today.

He grabbed his cell phone and pressed a few buttons.

“Hey, man, what’s up?” Ryan said when the call connected.

“I’m not going to be in this morning.”

“That’s cool. Everything okay?”

Jake cleared his throat. As much as he would love to pick Ryan’s brain, Jake would have to work through this issue on his own. And he knew just how to do that. “Yep. Just got some things to do.”

“Um, okay. Call me if you need anything.”

“You got it, man… and thanks.”

Jake clicked off and headed home. After grabbing Bella, he headed into the woods. Hopefully the fresh air would help clear his head and sort out his feelings.

Jake followed the same path he and Erin did the day they went hiking. When he reached the plateau where they’d picnicked, he let Bella off her leash and plopped onto the ground.

The creek babbled as it tumbled over the rocks, the birds sang their happy song and life moved along as though his world hadn’t just been yanked out from underneath him. Bella yipped and jumped after a butterfly. At least she was happy while he sat here, his mind swirling and no closer to a decision than he had been when he climbed in his truck.

He lay back, tucked his hands under his head and stared up at the sky. He and Lindsay had lots of good times together. He’d been in love with her at one point, at least he’d thought so. He’d planned to build a life with her. But she had rejected him. And broken his heart.

Then there was Erin. Her smile lit her entire face that very first day. They had a lot of good memories, and he grounded himself in the knowledge of how he felt about her. He loved her. He knew it. Maybe he could tell her he loved her and she’d decide to stay with him instead of leaving town.