What Endures by Katie Lee Page A

right. He had done it mostly for her. . .for them. Their feelings had been too painful and overwhelming at the time. If they had stayed at the same college, they would have irreparably destroyed whatever had been left of their relationship after the divorce. They had managed to become friends again, and she valued that, knowing it would destroy her if Jason was truly gone from her life.
    Perhaps that was why she was so upset about Tyler’s leaving. If Tyler hadn’t stayed in Maryland, she and Jason might not have repaired their relationship so soon. But it was Tyler, through his insistent demands for Jason to visit Harbor Bay and then his blatant attempts to get the three of them together, that had started Jason and herself talking in the first place.
    She felt as if Tyler was her remaining tie, not only to Maryland and Harbor Bay, but to Jason as well. And the fact that he was now leaving, left her feeling completely adrift. She had made good friends in college. . .even had a few dates. But those relationships had never come close to feeling like family to her. And that’s what her relationship with Tyler and Jason had felt like.
    Family.
    The tears threatened to spill again as she thought of her parents and the car accident that had claimed their lives. Orphaned at the age of 9, she had been uprooted from her home in South Carolina and shipped to Harbor Bay where her only surviving relative, her mother’s sister, lived. Aunt Susie had been great, but she had been young with her own life so Megan had spent a lot of time alone when she had first moved here. Until she met Tyler, and then through Tyler, she had met Jason and her life had never been the same.
    Tyler and Jason had become her family, probably more so than her aunt. Lord knows she spent more time at Tyler's house, and then Jason's, than she had at her aunt's house during her last few years in high school. 
    Aunt Susie had met her husband when Megan was still in high school. Her new uncle was a great guy, and Megan loved him, but his job took him all over the place and she knew her aunt had stayed behind to give Megan a stable place to finish her education. So when Megan turned 18, she had given her aunt her blessings and a firm nudge to go follow her husband.
    So Tyler telling her he was moving clear across the country made her feel like she was losing the last of her family, and she didn’t know what to do. But it hadn't been fair for her to lash out at Jason. He didn't have to come to Harbor Bay, much less seek her out, so she didn't need to repay him by being a bitch.
    She stood up and went over to where Jason was standing, near home plate, staring into the outfield. His tall, muscular frame was rigid with tension. “Jason.” He didn’t move, but a small tilt of his head told her he was listening. “I’m sorry. I really am. I. . .I don’t know why I said that. It wasn’t fair.  .or right. I just. . .I. . .” A sob choked off the rest of her words.
    “Meg?” he prompted, turning to her in concern.
    She shook her head, fighting to keep her emotions in check. “I hate that everyone I love is leaving.”
    He reached out then, in an all-too-familiar gesture and brushed some loose strands of hair from her face, his thumb lingering as it caressed her cheek. “No one’s left you, Megan. Just because people move away doesn’t mean they won’t be there for you.”
    She tried to smile and failed miserably. “It’s not the same.”
    “I know,” he said softly. “But you know Tyler will always be there for you if you need him right? It’s just a 6 hour plane ride from here to L.A.”
    “Right,” she said. She offered him a ‘brave smile’ and turned to stare out at the outfield, still feeling bereft.
    “Hey.” His voice was gentle but something in it made her turn and meet his eyes. “You know I’m always here for you right?” He smiled. “It’s an even shorter flight to Florida.”
    “Sure.”
    “I mean it, Meg,” he said, his green