Page 35 of Unbearable

“Wait a second. You dated Sandra Barker? The girl who was mean to us our entire childhood? Best friends with Joanie Rivers?” she asked, her jaw dropping.

“Don’t remind me.” My hand brushed through my hair. “Not one of my finer moments.”

Dating wasn’t a big priority for me, especially since coming back home after years away, but when Sandra asked me out, I figured why not? I had been dating her for two months when the invite came in the mail, and she convinced me to put her down as my plus one. We ended breaking up soon after that because she really was mean as shit.

“I don’t know if I will still be in town. I do need to call my manager and see if I can take more time off or possibly work remotely for a while, since the cabin isn’t anywhere near ready yet. But if I am here, I will put you out of your bachelor life misery for one evening,” she teased, and it felt good to gain some traction with her.

“Perfect.”

The hours slipped away as we caught up on everything that had happened over the past ten years. We reminiscedabout my time in the military and her journey through architecture school, discussing all the challenges and triumphs she faced in getting licensed. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was after three in the morning. A yawn escaped me.

“I should let you sleep. You probably have to work in the morning,” she said, stifling her own yawn.

“I texted your dad saying you were sick, and he told me he has everything covered for the morning. I figured I’d be here if you needed me. I don’t take a ton of time off work, so it might be good for me to have a lazy day anyway.”

She gave me a soft smile. “Well, I am going to take a shower and then head to bed. I’m sure once I start reading, I’ll probably pass out right away, even after all that sleep today.”

We parted ways, and I walked to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. I leaned against it and slowly sank to the floor, my mind going haywire with conflicting emotions. Talking to Dotty had always been effortless, and tonight felt like we had seamlessly returned to where we left off before everything fell apart.

Yet, I couldn’t shake the sense that I was in over my head. Taking care of her, talking to her for hours, finding out what she’s been up to, and learning about her friends and her life—it all highlighted a painful truth.

I was no longer part of her life.

And that was going to make watching her walk away ten times harder. I didn’t have the ability to watch her walk away before, and I knew I couldn’t do it now.

I had to figure out how to keep my distance from Dotty if I had any chance of surviving when she leaves.

I threw my shirt over my head and glanced down at the tattoo on my chest.

The small outline of a sun had faded with time, but was still there, reminding me of everything good in the world, even if it was out of reach.

My sunshine.

TWELVE

Dotty

EVEN IF IT BREAKS YOUR HEART - ELI YOUNG BAND

The week had flown by,but thankfully, it was productive. My manager approved an additional two weeks of vacation and even allowed me to work remotely for the following three months.

Truth be told, I wasn’t ready to leave this town and return to Seattle. While I missed the city, my job, and Noah, being here brought me a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in a long time.

Noah was sympathetic, even if a little sad, when I told her. She promised to visit as soon as her life settled down.

My manager was supportive, despite the fact my team was drowning in project after project. She encouraged me to take care of myself and assured me that my job would be waiting for me upon my return in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, progress on the cabin had slowed while various contractors took on some of the bigger issues. Once those were out of the way, I could begin tackling smaller projects that I could handle on my own. Replacing fixtures, laying new flooring, and painting were all on the to-do list. Despite the significant dent it made in mysavings, restoring the cabin felt like a worthwhile investment.

My fingers deftly wove through my blond hair as I secured it into a braid. The tranquility of the Saturday morning air seemed like the calm before a storm, as Dorian, Colt, and Trent were coming to help with the cabin’s roof.

After preparing copious amounts of sandwiches, snacks, and beers for after the ladder work, I packed everything into a cooler as Trent emerged from his room. His hair was still damp from the shower, and his jeans casually hung on his hips.

“Are you ready?” I asked.

“Yup,” he grunted.

It seemed we had been back to one-word exchanges over the last week. We’d spent hours talking after I was sick, only for him to revert back to barely speaking to me, yet again.

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