Chapter 26

"Vanessa, I've been reading Ryan's letter over and over. It's tearing me up inside that I know it was my fault that somewhere along the last few months, I lost contact with him completely. I didn't intentionally mean to. Work just got in the way. It has been insanely busy and, like, not one person that I pay a nice chunk of change to on a biweekly basis, has any answers or can do anything themselves without my input. Or did I make it that way?"

Am I so much of a hard dictator at the office where I have to micromanage every little thing that the very qualified people that I've hired to do the job question their abilities? I'm not an empowering boss. I'm a failure.

I've even read the fucking book that says your success is only that of those who succeed you. If I don't have trust in them to handle shit, then that doesn't make me successful at all. No matter the dollars in my bank account.

After a moment of silence, she gently speaks up, "It sounds like you"re really struggling with your leadership style and the impact it"s having on your team."

"I just don"t know how to change things now. Ryan must think I don"t care about him anymore." Tears well in my eyes and threaten to pour out.

"Maybe it"s not too late to reach out to Ryan and explain how you"ve been feeling. It could be the first step towards repairing your relationship with him." Vanessa reaches out and places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, offering comfort in the midst of my turmoil.

"You"re right... I need to make things right with him," I agree with a heavy sigh.

Vanessa walks out of my office as I'm already clicking a few numbers on my speaker phone.

"Charlie," I say to the CFO of my company as he answers on the first ring. "You've got that promotion you've been hounding me about for a few years now. Well, actually since we graduated from college, and I started this company with only an idea. Congratulations, you're the new CEO of Put Me to Work."

"What?" he yells through the receiver.

"That's correct. This goes into effect immediately. I'm going on a long vacation. Only bother me if the building burns down. Actually, just move to a new office building, so maybe don't even call me then. I'll do quarterly check ins, but other than that, I don't want to be bothered."

"Alrighty then, Julia. I'm not asking any questions. I'm just accepting the position and wishing you a great time off." I hang up the receiver and call my mom next.

"Mom, do you think that you can book me that little AirBnB in Texas again?" I ask.

"Really?" I hear her clap on the other end of the phone. "Yes, I'll get right to it, and I'll make your travel accommodations as well."

"Great because I have a lot of stuff to pack. Thanks. Just send me the flight itinerary in my email." That"s another thing I'll have to do. Create a non-business email account because I don't even want to have to open that up and see all the work stuff.

Within two hours, I'm on a flight to Dallas, and within the next four hours I'm knocking on a wooden door somewhere around one o'clock in the morning… again. It's pitch black out here, but I'm not afraid in the slightest because I know there's a big, strong man, and a large, hairy beast behind that door that will protect me at all costs. Yeah, he might push me away, but I'll take that chance. He's worth it. We're worth it.

If he pushes me away, it's going to hurt, but I'm going for it, anyway.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the burly voice says as the porch light flickers on and the door creaks open.

"I… um…" God, I'm a nervous wreck now that I'm face to face with the man I'm completely in love with.

"I'm just joking. It's great to see you, but I'm a little confused."

"I thought you never joke after midnight…" I say, my voice is a little shaky. Rusty peeks his head through the door, and I kneel down to welcome him into an embrace and give him a pat. He's soft and loving, and suddenly my fear is erased. Then I stand to confront his master. Hell, he's my master too. He's the one that holds my heart.

Tears pool in my eyes as I realize Ryan hasn't only made my life more, he's also helped me get over some of my biggest fears. I never thought that I would fall in love. I never would've believed I would leave my pride and joy in the hands of someone else, no matter how capable they were, and I surely never thought I could love a dog. Who would've thought that two meddling mothers knew more than we did?

"Come here," he invites me into a big hug, just like I did his dog.

"I love you," I mumble into his shirt and begin to cry.

"I love you too, sweetheart. Welcome home."