She sat on the bench outside his office, struggling not to feel like the nervous little girl she’d been whenever she’d had to tell her father something he wasn’t going to like. She wasn’t a kid anymore. She was strong and independent. A skilled surgeon who could make it on her own, out from under his wing that was suddenly feeling more like a shadow.

This was the right thing.

Whenever doubt crept in, she silenced it with thoughts of Reed.

Please let him still want to be with me.

Her father opened the door a minute later. “Come in.”

She stood on shaky knees and followed him inside, shutting the door slowly behind her. She’d never had to quit a job before, but she suspected this had to be ten times worse. She straightened her pencil skirt and folded one leg over the other as she sat in the chair across from him. Possibly for the last time.

“Hand it over,” he said as he sat.

Damn, was there anything he didn’t know?

She slid the resignation letter across the desk.

He scanned it. “Do you want me to try to talk you out of it?”

Did he want to? She took a breath and shook her head. Her decision was made. Even if he did ask her to stay, she wouldn’t. She needed to make a career, a life for herself. One she wanted.

With the man she wanted.

The next two weeks would be torture, working out her notice alongside her father and itching to get to Wild River to talk to Reed. She couldn’t do it by phone or text. Apologizing to him, telling him how she felt, was something she needed to do face-to-face.

“No. I’ve made the decision and I’m accepting the position in Wild River.”

He nodded.

She waited. There had to be more.

He was silent. He couldn’t even give her a word. After all the years she’d put in.

“Do you need anything else from me?”

“No. I’ll send this to the board. I trust you don’t need a letter of recommendation, seeing as how you’ve secured a new position already.”

Not a hint of emotion. No way of knowing if he cared that she was leaving or not. She was just another employee. She should be grateful that he was making this easy for her, but it stung a little, to be treated like a stranger.

“No, I don’t.” She stood. “Okay, so my last day...”

He held up a hand. “You don’t have to work out a notice.”

She straightened her spine and squared her shoulders. “Okay.” She paused. “I assume Dr. Smyth told you?” She wasn’t upset. The older man probably assumed this was a decision she’d discussed with her dad.