Built To Last

“It looks like she agrees.” And so did Erin.

They climbed out and Erin slung her bag on her back while Jake fiddled in the back of the truck. They stepped onto the trail and Jake handed her a water bottle. He clicked a leash on Bella’s collar and Erin could have sworn the dog sighed. “It’s just for a little bit, Bella. Until we’re away from the cars.”

Bella’s ears perked up and she hustled down the trail, Jake and Erin on her heels.

They hiked side by side on the wide path, the warm sun beating on their backs. When the path grew steeper, she walked in front of him. He didn’t touch her but his mere presence warmed and comforted her.

They didn’t talk much, the mo

ment not needing to be interrupted by conversation. The silence gave her mind an opportunity to spin, thoughts about her past and her future, her dreams and the man beside her all swirling together and intermingling.

They eventually reached a wide span of flat land where a gentle stream trickled over rocks and curved its way through the forest. “We can stop here and eat lunch.”

“Sounds great.” She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a picnic. And she’d never been with a man. Where had Jake been her entire life? And why did she meet him now, when she had one foot out the door? She’d been waiting ten years for this chance to explore the world and she couldn’t let anything, including the possibility of a relationship, deter her from her plans.

She shook her head. She was in a beautiful park with a handsome man. She could worry about her future later. It was time to focus on the present.

Jake pulled a vinyl-backed blanket from his backpack and she helped him spread it on the ground. Bella immediately leapt on the blanket and twirled it around her legs, eliciting laughs from both of them. Jake shooed Bella away and they got the blanket adjusted.

“Sit, quickly, before she comes back.”

The two of them dove onto the blanket and dissolved into laughter.

Bella ran into the creek, jumping on the rocks and splashing in the water. Erin and Jake sat on the blanket, enjoying Bella’s antics and their bucolic surroundings, until Jake’s hand covered hers.

She was trying not to read too much meaning into the simple touch but it was difficult when she wanted to make the leap. Time for a diversion. “Tell me something about you. All I know is that you’re from Oregon and you build houses.”

He bit his upper lip with his teeth and wrinkles scrunched his forehead. “Hum, I’m not sure what to tell. I met my best friend and business partner, Ryan, not long after I moved here from Oregon. We built our business from the ground up, and now we have more projects than we can handle.”

“It must be great, being able to work every day with your friend.” Erin wished she had his determination, his independent drive. For so long, her life had been lived for other people. She didn’t know how to live for herself—to have goals and make them happen. Except for the dreams of traveling that lingered in her mind, coloring every moment with Jake.

She really shouldn’t be encouraging him, knowing she was leaving soon. But something about him made her want to get to know him better, to see what made him tick.

Jake smiled and let go of her hand and quickly unpacked a plethora of food.

She missed the contact, the breeze cooling her hand where his had covered it. “Wow, this is quite a spread. Did you pick this up on the way?”

The horror-struck look on his face nearly made her laugh and he placed his hand on his heart in mock astonishment. “I’ll have you know, I made this entire meal.” He leaned in closer and winked at her. He actually winked. “The potato salad is my mother’s secret recipe.”

He handed out sandwiches and sides. That must have been her cue, because Bella returned to the blanket with a whine and a deep sigh as she set her head on her paws. She begged with her eyes for any scrap of food they bothered to drop.

“How did you become interested in building homes?”

He gulped a few big bites. “My grandfather. He was a master woodworker and taught me everything he knew. But he struggled to make ends meet just selling his custom pieces and I knew I’d need more to make a living. I earned my degree in business and architecture with the goal to run my own business. It’s taken a while to finally get established, but I love it here.”

Erin used to love it in Laguna Beach, until it became her prison. Unable to leave when that’s what she wanted the most. She had lived in Laguna Beach her entire life and her only trips out of town consisted of school field trips to Los Angeles or Sacramento.

Except in her mind, where she’d traveled to Europe and Asia and Africa.

She shook her head. Why was she letting her issues with her life color this wonderful day? Jake’s face had lit up when he talked about his grandfather. There was a lot of love there. But he’d left his family behind and settled in Laguna Beach. Did he have the same kind of adventurous dreams that she did? “What’s it like in Oregon?”

“It’s a lot like this forest, actually. It never gets really warm. The summers are comfortable. I lived in a small town—a lot smaller than Laguna Beach. The pace here was a big adjustment.”

“Yeah, definitely.” It’s a shame he hadn’t been in town before the influx of celebrity seekers and paparazzi. She bet he would have loved the slower pace, the kitchy, small-town feel of the Laguna Beach of her childhood. “How did you meet Austin?”

His eyes brightened and a boyish grin grew on his face. “I built their house.”

“Really? I love it. It’s perfect for them with so many little extra touches you don’t always see in the McMansions going up in town, like the crown molding and built-ins.”