Built To Last (Sweet Contemporary Romance) Page 3

  And only seconds.

  She had wanted to stretch out their time together. She loved listening to his deep voice, hearing his laughter. He was mature but didn’t take life too seriously. And he hadn’t made it a secret that he wanted to spend time with her.

  Why couldn’t she have found him earlier instead of right when she was about to grab hold of everything she’d always dreamed of?

  Well, she couldn’t sit here all night daydreaming about Jake. She climbed out of the car before the neighbors looked at her suspiciously for sitting in the driveway. A shadow moved behind the living room curtain as she headed up the walk. Dad must not be asleep. So much for sneaking in unnoticed.

  The minute she stepped into the house, her cat Tiger wrapped himself around her ankles. She picked him up for a cuddle while she closed and locked the door. His purring vibrated her arm. Some days, he was the only thing she could take comfort in when the world around her was so chaotic. Today, she wanted to curl up on her bed with Tiger and tell him all about the man she met.

  She lowered Tiger to the floor and traipsed across the living room into the small kitchen at the back of the house. Daddy was, no surprise, sitting at the table, staring at an open book spread in front of him. If she knew him, he wasn’t really reading, but thinking about what could have been… and what wasn’t.

  “Hey, Daddy.” She walked over and placed a kiss on his ruddy cheek, hollowed out from years of drinking and smoking and not exactly living.

  “Hey, Honey.”

  She tilted her head and studied him. His eyes were clearer than she expected. The corner of his mouth almost quirked up into a smile. She had long since stopped asking about his day, but recently he seemed, she didn’t know, better. Peppier. More clearheaded, more focused than normal. She’d been so busy finishing her degree that she hadn’t really spent more than a few minutes with him over the past few months.

  “Did you have fun with your friends tonight?”

  “I did. I’m gonna turn in.” She didn’t correct him. She had started going out with her friends, but her night had ended in a most unexpected way. She wasn’t ready to share Jake with anyone just yet. For right now, in this moment, what had started between them was private. Special.

  “Okay, sweetie. I think I’m going to stay up a little longer.

  For the first time in a long time, Erin wasn’t worried about her father. He seemed, well, better. She should have sat down with him, taken a few minutes to talk about what he was thinking, but her mind was filled with memories of her evening with a wonderful man.

  Erin had just turned down the hall, Tiger on her heels, when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She hurried into her bedroom and closed the door, hoping to shut out the rest of the world for a few minutes.

  Jake’s name flashed on her screen. He’d asked for her number before seeing her to her car at the beach. Just wanted to make sure you got home safely.

  She couldn’t help the smile on her face as she typed a quick response. I did. Thx for a wonderful evening.

  I wish we had more time together.

  She grinned and wiggled a little happy dance on her bed, nearly dropping her phone before she could respond. Me too.

  His next words came quickly. What about tomorrow?

  Her heart leapt. Was he asking her out on a date? She wanted to say yes but needed to make sure she understood. What about tomorrow?

  She waited as three dots flashed on her screen and then finally, a reply. I’d like to see you again. Do you have plans?

  She jumped off her bed and danced at the foot of it, her hands waving in the air. It was like she was a giddy teenager when her first crush paid attention to her. She pressed her hands down onto the bed to stop them from trembling before responding.

  No plans. I’d love to do something. Hopefully that sounded relaxed enough. Relaxed but confident.

  How about I pick you up around 10? Dress casual.

  Eep! She was going out with Jake again. Sounds good.

  She gave him her address.

  Good night. See you tomorrow.

  She stared at her phone long after it went dark, rubbing her finger over the screen as if she could touch Jake through the phone. Then she squealed and fell back onto her pillows.

  * * *

  Erin donned her favorite T-shirt and shorts the next morning. She didn’t know what Jake had planned, so she threw on her most comfortable hiking boots and then checked herself in the mirror. Yep, she looked casual. At least on the outside. On the inside, her stomach was twisted in knots.

  She stepped into the kitchen and nearly got run over when Melissa raced around her, grabbed the coffee pot, and topped off a travel mug.

  “I’m out of here, sis. See you later.”

  Melissa was rarely up this early, and certainly not rushing around the house. “Whoa. Wait up. Where are you going?”

  Melissa heaved a huge sigh and turned back to face Erin. “We’ve covered this. I’m eighteen now. I don’t need you checking up on me anymore.”

  Erin remembered how eighteen felt, like the world was at your fingertips and nothing could stop you. At least she’d felt that way before her mother died and everything changed. She couldn’t blame Melissa for wanting that kind of freedom.

  She poured herself a cup of coffee and measured her words before she spoke. “I’m not checking up on you. I just wanted to know where you were going.”

  “Me and some friends are headed to the beach. Gotta catch me some rays, and maybe do a little paddle boarding.” Her sister rushed out of the kitchen. Guess they were done talking.

  “Sounds like fun,” she said to her retreating sister’s back. Erin brought her coffee cup to her mouth, the rich scent of the black walnut blend wafting to her nose before she drank a sip. Melissa will be okay. She just had to keep repeating that mantra in her head until she believed it. It was so hard to turn off the mothering instinct that she’d honed over the past ten years. But she was ready to. Was ready to be selfish for herself for a while.

  Erin heard Melissa yell from the front door. “Bye, Daddy.”

  Her father walked into the kitchen, his hair mussed but his eyes clear. His T-shirt hung loose on his body from years of losing weight. He couldn’t stand to lose anymore. She hated to see him like this, resigned to existing and not really living.

  He leaned over and kissed Erin on the cheek before pouring himself some coffee.

  “Hey, Daddy. Can I make you some breakfast?” She reached for the pan and spatula. It wouldn’t take long to whip up an omelet but if it got Daddy to eat something, she’d take being a few minutes late for Jake.

  “No, honey. Coffee’s fine for now.”

  She tried to mask her disappointment. “I’m concerned about you. You’re not taking care of yourself.”

  He waved her off. “Pshaw. Stop your worrying.”

  They’d had this argument so many times. She couldn’t live his life for him, had tried and failed for the past ten years. All she could do was live the life she wanted to live. Starting right now. “I’m going out for the day. Melissa just went with her friends to the beach.”

  “Okay.” He stared down into his coffee, like he was waiting for something to happen. Erin halfway expected a plate of pancakes to show up in front of him. When her mother was alive, she had been up before the rest of them every day, putting a healthy breakfast on the table. And it always included pancakes.

  Erin sighed. Her mother had made mornings happy and cheerful and they all missed her energy. Her father most of all.

  After resting her hand on Daddy’s shoulder, she left him in the kitchen and approached the front window. She stared, her attention fixed on the road to town. She didn’t want to appear too anxious but she couldn’t wait to see Jake again. It had been so long since anxious butterflies had taken up residence in her belly.

  Before long, a huge black truck covered in a layer of dirt ambled down the street. She laughed—the vehicle suited Jake perfectly. As he turned into the drivewa
y, she grabbed her backpack off the floor by the door and yelled back at her father. She wasn’t hiding Jake from her family, but she wasn’t quite ready to introduce him to her father. Wasn’t ready to answer the inevitable questions. “Bye, Daddy. I’m heading out.”

  He mumbled a few words and waved his hand at her, his head now lowered over the newspaper. She’d probably find him there when she got home again. Same grief, different day.

  After closing the door, she ran down the three steps of her porch and across the lawn. Jake opened his door as she skidded to a stop beside his truck. Anxious much? Heat rose on her cheeks and she resisted the urge to cover them with her hands.

  “Hi.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say. When did she get so awkward at this?

  He smirked as he leaned back on his truck. Like he was cool as a cucumber while she was all tied up in knots. “Good morning.”

  A nose poked through the window behind Jake and nudged the back of his head. Before she knew what had happened, he lunged forward, swiping at the back of his neck. “This is Bella. She wanted to join us today.”

  He moved to the side so Erin could greet the beautiful golden retriever with solemn eyes and a great smile. The dog nuzzled Erin’s hand, her wet nose rubbing against Erin’s fingers. “Oh, she’s adorable.”

  “I’m so glad you think so. I’m not sure we could be friends if you didn’t like my dog.”

  “Is that what we are? Friends?” She slapped her hand over her mouth. What was she thinking? They’d just met, of course that’s what they were at this point. It wasn’t his fault her mind conjured images of so much more.

  Jake hesitated for a moment, searching her eyes before answering. “So far?”

  Erin laughed, happy he didn’t take her question so seriously. She didn’t know what made her so forward, so presumptuous. But something about Jake had called to her from the moment she saw him.

  “Is that okay?”

  “That’s perfect.” She paused, the silence growing awkward between them. She missed how comfortable they were together last night. But she was confident they hadn’t lost it—they were just working their way through early relationship jitters. “So, what are we doing today?”

  “It’s a surprise. But you’re dressed perfectly.”

  “I love surprises.” Erin headed around the truck to the passenger side. She reached for the door handle but was stopped when Jake beat her to it and opened the door for her.

  Jake was a gentleman at heart. It wasn’t just an act but a part of who he was.

  He placed his hands on her waist and helped her climb into the high seat. After tucking her backpack behind her, he closed the door and jogged around the front of the truck. She took the short time she had alone to suck in a few deep breaths. It had been a long time since she’d met a man that really interested her like Jake had from the first moment she saw him.

  When Jake climbed in, Bella stuck her head between the seats and her nose into his side. He laughed and roughed her fur for a moment before turning to Erin. “I think she’s a little upset. You’re in her seat.”

  Erin’s face heated but inside, her heart leapt at the possibility that he hadn’t had another woman in this seat. “Oh, no. Poor baby. I can sit in the back seat. Really.”

  “You’ll do no such thing. Bella knows her place.”

  Erin turned to Bella and scratched between her ears. “Thanks for giving up your seat, sweet girl.”

  Bella nudged her shoulder and Erin laughed. Who knew that Bella would be the perfect icebreaker? Something else to focus on other than the new-relationship tension between them.

  “She approves.”

  Bella turned around three times on the back seat and then tucked her head on her paws and closed her eyes.

  Jake backed out of Erin’s driveway and headed south. They inched through the heart of town, crowds building for a typical Saturday at the shore. Laguna Beach had been a quiet, seaside town until an insanely popular reality show put their cozy enclave on the map. Since then, their peace was interrupted with beach combers and fame seekers almost every weekend.

  After they escaped the main stretch of town, the road widened and Erin relaxed. It had been a long time since she’d done something just for herself, without worrying about how her sister and father would manage. She deserved this, this time with a handsome man, even though the feelings swirling inside her generated more confusion than she was ready to handle.

  “What are you thinking?” Jake shot a questioning look in her direction and then turned back to the road.

  “I’m just enjoying a Saturday without any obligations.”

  “I guess you’ve been pretty busy on the weekends, catching up on schoolwork and all.”

  “That too.”

  She loved the deep rumble of his laugh and how he completely let himself go and enjoy life. That’s what she was looking for for herself. “I’m not sure I understand.”

  The people closest to her knew the realities of her life, but few others did. She did what she had to do to take care of her family but didn’t like talking about what she’d taken on with others. But the gentleness in Jake’s gaze comforted her and made her want to open up to him. “Until about eighteen months ago, I was the stereotypical soccer mom every weekend, constantly carting my sister to cheerleading practice, soccer games, sleepovers. Wherever she needed to go.”

  Jake turned onto another road and followed the winding stretch of black ribbon into the mountains. It had been so long since she’d been out into the woods. She used to like hiking and camping when she was little. They would go as a family and spend the weekend, pitching a tent and fishing and just spending time together.

  Just another family activity that stopped when her mother died.

  “What about your father?”

  She clenched her hands together in her lap. “After my mother died, my father basically shut down. He doesn’t go to work anymore. He and my sister live on his disability… and my paycheck. He mainly just sits around the house and misses my mother.”

  Jake rested his hand on her arm for a moment and then returned his eyes to the road. But the gentleness of his touch had those pesky butterflies beating their wings in her belly again. “That has to be hard for the entire family. But you, especially. That takes a lot of strength.”

  “I’m doing pretty well. Austin and the staff have been great, arranging my work hours around my classes and what I’ve needed to do for my sister and my Dad.”

  Jake nodded but didn’t say much. Like he knew that she didn’t need sympathy. But he’d said she was strong. She wasn’t sure she was—she just did what had to be done. She had lost her mother, and she wasn’t about to lose the rest of her family, too.

  Jake slowed and then signaled to turn into a parking lot. A sign reading Caspers Wilderness Park greeted them as they pulled into an empty spot. She’d never been here before but was excited about the possibility. She welcomed the chance to put all thoughts of her family and the life she had no control over out of her mind for a few hours.

  “I hope this is okay. I thought we’d hike for a while and then have a picnic. We can let Bella run a bit in the woods.”

  At the sound of her name, Bella perked up in the back seat and poked her nose between the two of them. They both laughed.

  “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.