Chapter 10 Fractures #2
"I don't need you immediately."
"I know you're committed to finishing harvest."
Sawyer nodded.
"I gave my word."
"Then finish it."
She smiled warmly.
"Start with us the Monday after harvest ends."
He signed the agreement.
Each stroke of the pen felt heavier than the last.
When it was finished, Rachel reached across the desk to shake his hand.
"Welcome aboard."
"Thank you."
"I think you'll build something special here."
Sawyer forced a small smile.
"I hope so."
As he walked back to his truck, he realized he had expected the decision to bring relief.
Instead, it only made everything feel final.
The drive back to Red Hollow passed in silence.
Fields rolled by outside the window.
The familiar grain silos.
The old church.
The diner where Tucker had once insisted peach pie was inferior.
Each landmark suddenly felt like a memory instead of part of his future.
By late morning, he found Eli in the garage rebuilding a transmission.
"You got a minute?"
Eli glanced up.
"For you?"
"Always."
They stepped into the office.
Sawyer closed the door behind them.
"I accepted the Morgan job."
Eli wasn't surprised.
"You did."
"I start after harvest."
A long silence settled between them.
Finally Eli nodded.
"I figured that's what you'd decide."
Sawyer handed him a neatly folded envelope.
"I'm giving you plenty of notice."
Eli accepted it without opening it.
"I wish you weren't."
"So do I."
Eli looked at the envelope for a long moment before setting it gently on the desk.
"You know..."
He smiled sadly.
"...you're the best mechanic I've ever had."
"I learned from good people."
"You also became family."
Those words nearly broke Sawyer's resolve.
He looked away.
"I didn't mean for that to happen."
"Neither did we."
Eli walked around the desk and pulled him into a brief, firm embrace.
"I'm proud of you."
"I don't feel proud."
"I know."
"But someday you will."
Sawyer nodded silently.
When he returned to the workshop, he buried himself in repairs.
Work had always been the easiest place to hide.
Late that afternoon, after everyone else had gone home, he began quietly packing the service truck assigned to him.
Not everything.
Only the things that belonged to him.
His grandfather's old wrench.
The Army-issued toolbox he'd never replaced.
Technical manuals filled with handwritten notes.
A faded photograph of his recovery unit.
He wrapped each item carefully.
Not because they were expensive.
Because they carried pieces of the life he had lived before Red Hollow.
He wanted to leave the truck ready for whoever came after him.
No loose ends.
No unnecessary reminders.
As he finished loading the final storage box, footsteps echoed across the gravel behind him.
"Tucker?"
The name escaped before Sawyer had time to think.
But it wasn't Tucker.
It was one of the younger mechanics.
"Need a hand?"
"No."
Sawyer closed the tailgate.
"I'm just organizing."
The mechanic nodded.
"Makes sense."
He walked away without another question.
Sawyer let out a slow breath.
That had been too close.
The following afternoon, Tucker drove into town to collect replacement bearings Eli had ordered for the ranch.
His thoughts remained as tangled as they had been all week.
He kept telling himself he was protecting Sawyer.
The words sounded less convincing every day.
He parked outside the garage and stepped inside.
"Eli around?"
"In the office," one mechanic answered.
Tucker headed toward the back.
The office door stood slightly open.
"Eli?"
"Be right there."
Eli's voice came from the storeroom.
Tucker waited.
His eyes wandered across the desk without meaning to.
A folded envelope rested near the edge.
The handwriting caught his attention immediately.
Sawyer Reyes.
Below it, in smaller letters:
Letter of Resignation
Tucker froze.
He hadn't meant to read it.
He wished he hadn't.
Before he could step away, Eli returned carrying a box of bearings.
"Oh."
He noticed where Tucker was looking.
For a long second, neither man spoke.
Finally Tucker managed to ask, "He's leaving?"
Eli's expression answered before words did.
"After harvest."
The room seemed to tilt.
"What?"
"He accepted another position."
Tucker felt every ounce of color drain from his face.
"When?"
"A couple of days ago."
"Why didn't he tell me?"
Eli studied him carefully.
"I imagine he thought you already knew what you wanted."
The words landed like a punch.
Tucker couldn't answer.
His mind raced backward through the past week.
Every conversation he had cut short.
Every lunch he had skipped.
Every excuse.
Every moment he had pushed Sawyer away in the name of responsibility.
Outside the office window, Tucker's eyes found Sawyer's service truck parked beside the garage.
The tailgate stood open.
Boxes were neatly stacked inside.
Personal tools carefully packed.
Nothing hurried.
Nothing careless.
It wasn't preparation for a vacation.
It was preparation for leaving.
For leaving Red Hollow.
For leaving him.
Tucker stood motionless, staring at the truck.
Only now did he fully understand what his silence had cost.
He had convinced himself that stepping back would protect Sawyer's future.
Instead, he had driven the man he loved toward a future that no longer included him.
For the first time since Emily's death, genuine panic settled into his chest.
Not because he feared being alone.
Because he suddenly realized that if he waited any longer, he might lose Sawyer forever before he ever found the courage to fight for the life they both wanted.
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