Built To Last (Sweet Contemporary Romance) Read online

  Not yet.

  She pulled into her driveway a few minutes later. The front windows were open and a gentle breeze blew the curtains hanging on the front windows. Upon closer inspection, the curtains appeared to have been cleaned, the bright white fabric gleaming in the afternoon sun. She’d been meaning to take them down and wash them for some time, but her days always seemed to get away from her… and her evenings had been spent with Jake.

  Laughter rang out from the kitchen as she stepped into the house. It had been so long since she’d heard laughter in this house. The voice sounded like her father. But certainly, it wasn’t him, was it?

  She dropped her purse and keys at the door and stepped into the kitchen.

  Where she found her father.

  Sitting at the table.

  With a woman.

  Dad leapt from his chair, his hand resting on the shoulder of the woman beside him. “Erin, honey, what are you doing home from work so early?”

  Dad’s tone surprised her. Was he upset with her, or was there something else going on? Erin raised her eyebrows. “What, do I need permission to come home, now?”

  She hadn’t meant the snark that laced her words but she couldn’t hide her shock at finding her father smiling and laughing. With a woman.

  Dad rounded the table. “No, honey. Nothing like that. I’m sorry. That sounded harsh.” He motioned to the gray-haired woman. She stood and placed her hand on his arm. “I want to introduce you to Gladys. She lives in the cottage across the back fence.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m Erin.” Erin extended her hand but her voice betrayed her skepticism. She didn’t know what Gladys was up to here with Dad. But considering how good he looked right now, and the adoring look he shared with the older woman, Erin was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.

  “Nice to meet you, Erin. Your father has told me so much about you.”

  “I’m sorry I can’t say the same. Daddy’s obviously been keeping you a secret.” She smiled at the woman who clearly had been at least partly responsible for Dad’s transformation. She couldn’t help but notice how he filled out his shirt a little more than he had even a couple of weeks ago. How his skin looked brighter. And had he gotten a haircut? “Daddy?”

  “I was going to tell you, honey.”

  “Tell me what?”

  Gladys stood from the table. “Listen, Robert, I’m going to go. Let you and Erin talk.”

  “I’ll text you later.” Dad held Gladys’s hand for a bit longer before releasing her, then Gladys let herself out the back door, closing it quietly behind her.

  Dad motioned to the chair. “Have a seat.”

  Erin sat, folding her hands in her lap. She was more than willing to listen, if what she was thinking was going on was actually happening.

  “Gladys and I are seeing each other.”

  “I gathered. How long?”

  He seemed genuinely confused by the question. “How long what?”

  “How long have you been seeing her?”

  Her father’s eyebrows furrowed and he wrenched his mouth. “Oh. A couple of months, I guess.”

  Erin leapt from her chair. “A couple of months, Daddy. Why didn’t you tell me?” How had he kept this from her for all this time? And why didn’t he think it important enough to share with her. Did he think she would be upset? Wouldn’t approve?

  “Sit down, honey.”

  Erin plopped into the chair.

  “I didn’t want to tell you until I knew where things were going. She moved in about six months ago. We started chatting over the fence when I’d do work in the back yard. Then one day, she invited me over for coffee.” Dad ran his hands through his hair, the trimmed strands falling easily over his fingers. A big change from the unkempt curls that he’d sported for most of the past ten years.

  “And you’ve gone out? On dates?”

  “A few. We mostly spend time together during the day.” While she was at work. Like he was trying to hide it from her.

  “And since when do you text?”

  He grinned. “Isn’t that how people talk now?”

  “I guess.” Erin gripped her hands together beneath the table, then hopped up from the chair. She couldn’t sit still. She paced across the room and then back again. “This is just too much. I never expected that you were seeing someone, much less for a couple of months. And to not tell me. I don’t know what to say.”

  “How about saying you’re happy for me?”

  “But what about Mom?” Erin hadn’t really thought of her dad with anyone else but Mom. Isn’t that what every little girl dreams of? Their Mom and Dad happily in love for the rest of their lives. But fate had other plans and for years, Daddy hadn’t been living, much less falling in love.

  “What about your mother? I loved her. I still love her. This doesn’t change that.”

  “But for so long…” She couldn’t bring herself to even mention his drinking.

  “I was lost. That’s true. For a long time. Heartbroken. I didn’t know how to go on. And you took care of me. And Melissa. I’m not sure we would have survived without you. I lost myself in a bottle for way too long.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. This was the father she had been looking for, hoping for, all those years when she’d felt so alone. Taking care of Melissa while Dad sat by and mourned.

  “But when…”

  He answered like he knew she couldn’t finish the question. “I haven’t had a drink in a hundred and twenty-three days.”

  Tears ran down her cheeks. She spread her arms wide and Daddy stepped into her arms, strength she hadn’t seen in him in a long time reflected in the firm grip around her body. “That’s so great. I wish you had told me sooner.”

  “I didn’t want to get your hopes up. What if I didn’t make it? What if I took another drink? I didn’t want to disappoint you again.”

  “Oh, Daddy. You never disappointed me.”

  He leaned back, looking her in the eye. “Yes, I did. But I’m not going to anymore. At least I’m going to try not to.”

  Erin stepped out of his embrace. She wiped her face and then quirked her eyebrow. “So, you and Gladys?”

  A huge grin broke out on his face. “Yeah.”

  She searched her heart. She wasn’t bitter that Dad found love again after Mom died. He deserved to have love, especially if loving Gladys made him feel even a tenth of how she felt around Jake. “I’m happy for you. I really am.”

  “Oh honey, that means so much to me. Now back to my original question, what are you doing home so early?”

  “The office was quiet so Austin let me go early and Jake has plans tonight.”

  “Well, how about you let your dear old dad take you out to dinner.”

  Erin wrapped her arms around her father again. She had the Daddy she had wanted… and needed… for the past ten years again. “That would be great.”

  * * *

  Erin climbed in the car with her dad, smiling at the changes that had hit her out of the blue. How had she let such a significant turnaround slip by her unnoticed?

  “I know how you love Mexican. Thought we’d go to Las Brisas.”

  “We don’t need to do anything that nice. I’m just so happy to spend time with you.” She reached across the car, squeezed his hand, and grinned. “But I do love Las Brisas.”

  “I know you do. That’s why I picked it.”

  A few minutes later, he pulled up to the curb, left the car with the valet, and the two of them headed into the restaurant. They approached the hostess stand, the peaceful elegance of the expansive dining room spread out in front of her.

  At a table in the middle, she saw a man with his back to her, pushing in the chair of his dining companion.

  The man reminded her of Jake, his broad shoulders, his gentle touch.

  She shook her head. There was no way that was Jake. She just saw him in every handsome man these days.

  But when she looked closer, her concern grew. The breadth of the man’s sho
ulders. The strength of his arms beneath the navy blazer. So much like Jake. But Jake had never worn a jacket like that with her, so it couldn’t be him. Right? The man’s manner toward the woman screamed intimacy. He leaned over and whispered in her ear before releasing her chair. It warmed Erin’s heart.

  She’d turned into a sap since she’d fallen in love with Jake.

  Wait, what? When did she fall in love with Jake?

  She grabbed for the host stand, afraid she’d collapse under the significance of her realization. It wasn’t one single moment or event. It was every moment and every event. Every touch, every look told her she mattered to him. Her heart raced and her breathing grew shallow.

  This couldn’t be happening. She wasn’t supposed to fall in love with him. She should have stopped seeing him right away. She had plans. Plans that didn’t involve Laguna Beach. Everything was falling into place. Her sister had a job and her father had stopped drinking… and he had a girlfriend.

  Now was the time to live her dreams, not the time to fall in love.

  She glanced at the couple again, and her heart nearly stopped beating. It was Jake. He sat at the table, smiling at the woman with the long blonde hair beside him. The smile she thought he reserved only for her. Her hands shook. Her stomach heaved. She scanned the lobby. Where could she go? What could she do to get away from here? She didn’t want Jake to see her. Not now. Not ever.

  Tears flooded her eyes. She swiped at them as they ran down her cheeks faster than she could stop them. She smacked her hand over her mouth so she wouldn’t cry out and ran out of the restaurant.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jake stared into Lindsay’s eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. He didn’t want to be here. He’d rather be with Erin. But Lindsay had called yesterday. He should have known better than to take the call. She insisted that they meet and he was curious enough to agree.

  What had brought her back to Laguna Beach?

  After he made plans to meet up with Lindsay, he’d told Erin he had plans. Sitting here with Lindsay now, he regretted not telling Erin he was having dinner with his ex-girlfriend. And that he’d rather be having dinner with her.

  And that he loved her.

  He’d known it for some time. Felt it deep in his bones. But he also sensed that there was still some little piece of Erin that she held back from him. And he wanted to give her a chance to reveal that part to him before he laid his heart on the line again.

  But tonight was about meeting with Lindsay, finding out what she wanted, and then being done with her once and for all.

  Like he had been for all these months she’d been in LA.

  Lindsay focused on the menu, not looking at him. “So, how have you been?”

  “Fine.”

  “How’s business? I see so much new building going on. Are some of those your homes?”

  “Good. Yes.”

  She sputtered and threw him an angry glance. She shouldn’t expect anything more than simple answers after the way she broke up with him. “Is that all I get, after everything we’ve been to each other? One word answers?”

  “What do you want from me, Lindsay?” He always hated small talk. But that was the only thing he and Lindsay had between them anymore. Besides, every minute he was sitting here, he felt like he was betraying Erin. Not that this was a date, but he hadn’t been fully honest with her when he informed her he had plans tonight and that was gnawing at him.

  “I want to talk. I wanted to see you. And I thought you’d be happy to see me.”

  The waitress interrupted their strained conversation. Jake hadn’t even decided what he wanted. He huffed out a breath and ordered the first thing he read on the menu. Eat dinner and leave—that’s all he had to do.

  Lindsay placed her order and then handed over her menu. She drew a long sip of her margarita, her eyes locked on his. After she lowered her glass, she extended her hand across the table. He used to love linking their fingers together, the little intimate act that displayed his love for her.

  Not anymore. He dropped his hands into his lap.

  “I miss you, Jake.”

  This wasn’t happening. Why had he even agreed to come to dinner? A few months ago, even, he might have been interested in what she had to say. Would have been willing to discuss getting back together. But not now. Not after what he’d started with Erin. Compared to Erin, Lindsay was just… he didn’t know. “What did you say?”

  “I miss you.”

  “I don’t believe that.”

  Tears filled her eyes. “I don’t understand where all this hostility is coming from.”

  It was all he could do not to jump up from the table and leave. She knew good and well where his hostility originated. How about every minute of their two years together when he made no secret of his desire to settle down and start a family? And when she let him set up an elaborate proposal on the beach, only to turn him down.

  Come to think of it, the one good thing she did was to say no when he asked her to marry him. Their marriage would have been a disaster from day one. Why didn’t Lindsay understand this?

  He thought he was over being hurt by her. Obviously he wasn’t. “You got what you wanted. You went to LA. Without me.”

  “I was wrong.”

  He sputtered, spitting out the sip of wine he’d just taken. “What?”

  “I said I was wrong.”

  “What were you wrong about?”

  “Everything. Leaving Laguna Beach. Going to LA. Leaving you.”

  He took another sip of his drink. There wasn’t enough alcohol in the universe for this conversation.

  “Saying no to you… I was wrong about all of it,” Lindsay added.

  He stared at his hands, his knuckles turning white from gripping his wine glass. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. He was with Erin now. He loved her. He knew it with every fiber of his being. But now Lindsay was in front of him and she admitted she was wrong.

  They’d had some good times, and their relationship had been easy. Maybe too easy. They seemed to have so much in common.

  Except one big thing.

  He wanted a family. And she didn’t.

  He forced civilized words through his clenched teeth. “What happened? Did you not get the part you wanted?”

  She stared down at the table, and for the first time, he saw the sweet Lindsay he’d fallen in love with. “I hated LA. From the day I arrived. It was awful. And I missed you.”

  “Why now? Why not sooner, if you hated it so much.” Lindsay didn’t know about Erin, did she? Had she been waiting, biding her time, until he’d met someone else, to come back and devastate him? Why couldn’t she have come back three months ago? He would have been angry with her, sure, but he probably would have taken her back. He couldn’t now. And he wouldn’t.

  He didn’t want to.

  She raised her eyes. “I didn’t think it was fair to you. I know I hurt you. I was stupid. I loved you. I still love you. Please say you still love me.”

  He didn’t answer.

  “I want another chance with you.”

  His heart skipped a beat. How many nights had he lain awake, dreaming about hearing those words? He struggled to conjure the hurt he felt when she turned him down and left him alone on the beach. But he couldn’t deny that underneath all the hurt, he had loved Lindsay. He wouldn’t have proposed if he didn’t. “I haven’t changed. I still want the same things I’ve always wanted. I want to raise a family. Here… in Laguna Beach.”

  That should be enough to remind her why they wouldn’t work out.

  “I know how important a family is to you. I want that, too.”

  “Since when?”

  “For a while now.”

  He sat back in his chair. This wasn’t at all the Lindsay who hadn’t shed a tear when turning down his proposal. The one who had her eyes on the horizon, chasing fame all the way to Los Angeles. “This sure seems like a convenient change of heart.”

  “It’s not. I swear. My sister, M
onica, was pregnant. We were all so happy. She glowed. Pregnancy agreed with her. And then…” Lindsay picked up her glass and drank another gulp, staring at the yellow slush in the bottom of the bowl. Tears filled her eyes. “She lost the baby.”

  He wouldn’t wish that kind of grief on anyone, but he was struggling to believe Lindsay’s change of heart. But he wasn’t a jerk, either. “I’m so sorry, Lindsay.”

  “She was twenty weeks along. They don’t know what happened. She was devastated and my heart broke for her. And it made me think about what’s important in life.” She reached her hand across the table and placed it over his. “And what isn’t. I want a life with you, Jake. And a family.”

  The waiter arrived at that moment with their dinners. Just in time. This was certainly not the conversation he expected when he agreed to meet Lindsay. She seemed genuinely distraught by what happened to her sister, but he was still skeptical of her one hundred and eighty degree turn around.

  Lindsay stood, interrupting the swirl of thoughts crowding his mind. “I’m going to run to the ladies. I’ll be right back.”

  He slumped in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. What just happened here? This wasn’t what he expected when he took Lindsay’s call. He eyed the exit. Maybe he could scoot out while she was gone. She’d done it to him, why shouldn’t he do the same?

  Because that’s not who he was. And despite everything that happened with Lindsay, he still cared about her. Just not in the same way. Not anymore.

  Could he really be considering getting back with Lindsay?

  No. Absolutely not.

  He wanted his future with Erin. He’d shared his dreams with her. But each time he tried to dig deeper, she deflected the conversation.

  Maybe she didn’t want a family after all.

  Was family so important to him that he would choose Lindsay over Erin?

  He couldn’t believe he was even considering reconciling with Lindsay. But what did he really know about Erin’s plans for the future? Austin had mentioned losing her now that she had her degree. Did he know something Jake didn’t about what was next on the horizon for her?