“I need a little help getting the cap off the bottle though.”
“Here, I’ve got it.” Taylor’s mother grabbed the bottle opener from the drawer and popped the top off for her. “Aren’t you having one?”
“Mom, she’s on painkillers,” Taylor said. She gave Callie a tight smile as they passed each other on Callie’s way back to the living room.
“Thank you, Mrs. Fletcher,” Callie said over her shoulder.
“It’s Eleanor, please.” When Callie was gone, her mother winked at Taylor. “Polite, attractive, and enchantingly charming, to boot. A very good combination.”
“Please stop.” Taylor opened the microwave and removed the stuffing so she could heat up the green bean casserole. “Just…stop.”
“What? If I were twenty years younger and swung that way…”
“Oh, my God,” Taylor said as she hung her head and felt her cheeks flush. “Have you always been this embarrassing? I don’t remember you being this embarrassing while I was growing up.”
“Yes, dear, I have,” she answered with a pat to Taylor’s forearm. “But I used to be a bit more subtle about it.”
* * *
“So, Callie, football. I assume you’re a Bills fan?” Taylor’s father asked after they’d all stuffed themselves.
“Yes, sir, I am,” she answered. “Even though I would dearly love to root for a team that might make the playoffs someday.”
“I told you to stop with the sir,” he said with a shake of his head. “Call me Bob.”
“You two go watch football,” Eleanor told them. “Taylor and I will clean up.”
“Come on, before they change their minds,” Bob said as he stood.
Callie wanted to offer to help, but Taylor motioned for her to follow Bob. The conversation during dinner had been light and easy enough, but Callie had heard a bit of what Taylor and Eleanor were saying before she’d gotten the beer for Bob. Taylor didn’t like her. She’d known this, but had hoped since yesterday they’d forged some kind of friendship. Obviously, she’d been wrong.
“So, Detroit or Minnesota in the first game?” Bob asked.
“If the Vikings hadn’t lost five out of the last six, I’d pick them, but I think the Lions are going to win.” Callie reached into her pocket and pulled out a pain pill. After swallowing it, she turned to Bob and smiled. “And before you ask, the Cowboys are going to win the later game. Washington doesn’t stand a chance.”
“I agree wholeheartedly,” he said with a chuckle. They settled in as the pre-game ended, but it seemed Bob had something on his mind. He lowered his voice as he leaned a little closer to her and glanced toward the kitchen. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
“Sure,” she said, a bit uneasy. That was one question she hated hearing.
“Taylor denies it, but are you two dating?”
“No,” she answered with a chuckle. “We aren’t.”
“Damn it. I figured as much, given what you do for a living, but I was hoping. I think you’d be good for her.” He straightened again and turned his attention back to the TV. “We’ve been worried about her ever since Andrea died. As far as I know, she hasn’t dated at all since then.”
Callie didn’t know what to say. She stared at the television, but she wasn’t seeing what she was watching. Her mind was filled with Taylor, and she knew it shouldn’t be.
“It’s not because I don’t want to.”
He looked at her, and she cringed at the realization she’d said those words out loud. He nodded with a knowing smile.
“Have you asked her?”
“No,” Callie said, looking at the TV again. “Our relationship is a bit complicated, I guess you could say.”
“How long have you known her?”
“Since before she met Andrea, but again, it’s complicated. I was friends with Andrea, but I never really spent time with the two of them. I don’t think Taylor really likes me, if I’m being honest.”
“Taylor likes everyone.” He waved her comment off. After a moment, he looked at her again. “Unless they do something to hurt her. Have you?”
“No,” Callie said, sounding more defensive than she’d meant to. “Not that I know of.”
“Then you should ask her out. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“Maybe,” she said, mostly because she didn’t want to talk about it any longer. The worst that could happen? She could laugh at her, or kick her out before Quinn got home. Hell, she could fire Quinn for that matter. No, asking Taylor out was not something she would do anytime soon.
* * *
“Thank you again for dinner. It was wonderful,” Callie said when Bob and Eleanor were putting their coats on. She had a hand on her stomach, thinking she should have passed on the second—and the third—slice of pumpkin pie. It had been so good though.
“It was our pleasure, Callie,” Eleanor said with a smile. “Hopefully, we can do it again sometime soon.”
Taylor shook her head slightly as she stared at her mother. Callie almost laughed at her stern expression, but somehow managed to stifle it. She had a feeling laughing would have been a bad idea right then.
“Drive carefully,” Taylor said as she opened the door for them to leave.
“Subtlety never was your strong point, was it?” Bob chuckled before leaning in and giving Taylor a kiss on the cheek.
“Nope.” Taylor hugged Eleanor and then they were gone. She shut the door and leaned her forehead against it for a moment before turning and facing Callie. “You certainly made an impression with them.”
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”
“Oh, I’d say it was good. At least for them.”
“You never told me your father was in the FBI.”
“It just never came up.” Taylor shrugged like it was no big deal. “Was he interrogating you about dating me?”
“Actually, yeah, he did a little bit.” Callie moved aside to allow Taylor to pass on her way to the living room.
“I hope you told him to mind his own business.”
“Um, no. Not exactly.” She knew she should have lied and told her she did, but lying wasn’t really something she did. Not to mention she absolutely sucked at it. Her mother had always been able to see right through any lie she’d attempted to tell.
“What did you tell him?” Taylor looked worried, and Callie thought she was cute with that particular expression.
“I said we weren’t dating, but I also told him it wasn’t because I didn’t want to.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, Callie.” Taylor sighed and leaned forward, her forearms resting on her thighs. “You know that’s never going to happen.”
“Why not?” Callie tried to not sound disappointed, but she didn’t think she’d done a very good job of it.
“For one thing, you told him you wanted to date me, but you’ve never said anything about it to me, and for another thing, I don’t date first responders anymore.”
“What?” Callie decided not to disclose that Bob had already told her as much, albeit in not those exact words. “I’ll admit I probably should have actually asked you out before saying something to your father about it. But technically, I’m not a first responder you know. I’m a homicide detective, and I only get called to the scene of a crime after a murder has been committed.”
“And yet here you are, recovering from a gunshot wound. How do you explain that?” Taylor stood and looked down at her. “I’ll tell you how. You were chasing a murder suspect who was desperate to get away. You can’t tell me you don’t put your life on the line every day you go to work. But you know what? None of it matters because according to you, I don’t even like you.”
Callie stared at the wall across the room as Taylor stormed out. She flinched when she heard the door to the bedroom slam shut. She let her head fall back against the couch. That conversation certainly hadn’t gone the way she thought it might. She hadn’t expected a date out of it, but she’d hoped maybe they could have shared a
laugh.
Blaze came to her and sat on the floor by her feet, his chin resting on her thigh. He looked up at her, his big brown eyes looking sad. She scratched him behind the ears and sighed.
“I might not be here much longer, boy,” she said. He lifted his head and licked her arm. “Maybe you should put in a good word for me. I think I could use all the help I can get as far as your mom is concerned.”
Chapter Nine
Taylor woke up the next morning feeling even more like an ass than she had the night before. She put her pillow over her head and buried herself under the covers. She’d told Callie she could sleep in her bed and she’d take the couch, yet here it was, two days later, and both nights Taylor had slept in her own bed. After a few moments, she threw the covers off and walked dejectedly to the bathroom.
Once showered and dressed, she felt a little better, but there was no doubt she was still an ass. And Blaze had slept in the living room the last two nights. Even he knew she was an ass. She wouldn’t blame him if he liked Callie more than her at this point.
“Good morning,” Callie said when Taylor walked into the kitchen. Taylor went straight to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup. She sounded downright cheerful. “I let Blaze out and gave him some food.”
“Thank you.” Taylor was surprised, and she could tell Callie knew it. “For taking care of Blaze and the coffee.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I need to apologize for last night.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Callie stood and took her cup to the sink just as Taylor sat across from her. “But if it’s all the same to you, I think I’m just going to go on home today. This obviously isn’t working out very well.”
“What?” Taylor turned in her seat to better see her, thinking she was probably joking. The expression on her face told Taylor she was not. Quinn would never forgive her if she allowed Callie to go home on her own. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Come on, Taylor,” she said, sitting once again. “I heard some of the conversation between you and your mother yesterday. I heard you tell her why you were letting me stay here. You also told her you weren’t sure you even liked me.”
Taylor stared at her a moment, trying to decide if there was any point in lying to her about it. She sighed and shook her head. She’d heard it right, so what good could possibly come from denying it?
“I’m sorry,” Taylor said, almost surprised to realize she meant it. In reality, what reason was there to not like Callie? She was polite, her parents liked her, she’d taken care of Blaze and made coffee this morning. You could never underestimate the power of coffee. On the surface, Callie seemed to be the perfect woman. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind, refusing to think about it. How would Callie feel if she found out Taylor had always found her attractive?
“Thank you for not trying to put a spin on it,” Callie said.
“I only told her what I did because I didn’t want to talk about it with her.”
“Now see, that,” Callie said, pointing a finger at her and moving it in a circle, “is a spin.”
“It’s the truth.” Taylor wanted to stop herself from speaking, but it didn’t seem possible. Her brain had somehow disconnected from her mouth. “I don’t not like you, okay?”
“A double negative?” Callie grinned. “So you’re saying you do like me.”
It was a statement, not a question, and Taylor could have just left it alone, but then again, her mouth apparently still hadn’t engaged with her brain.
“Maybe. The jury’s still out.” Taylor went to the coffee pot to refill her cup, mostly so Callie couldn’t see her smiling. “Unless, of course, the polite and charming Callie I’ve seen the past two days has all been an act.”
“Nope, what you see is what you get.”
“Quinn said the same thing about herself when I met her.”
“She and I are so alike it scares me sometimes. Pretty sure it scares her too. And our mother? It terrifies her.” Callie grinned, and Taylor couldn’t help but return it.
“You’ll stay here until Quinn gets back on Sunday?”
“Yeah, I’ll stay.” Callie sat again and winced at the stab of pain that went through her shoulder when she accidentally banged her arm on the table.
“Are you all right?” Taylor asked, rushing to her side.
Callie nodded and pretended not to notice Taylor’s hand firmly on her thigh as she knelt down beside her. She was afraid Taylor would move away if she acknowledged the touch in any way because Callie didn’t think Taylor was even aware she was touching her.
“I’m fine,” she answered through clenched teeth.
“Sure you are, tough guy.” Taylor squeezed her thigh and let go, leaving Callie to feel the loss immediately. “I’ll get you a pain pill.”
“Fuck, Burke, get a grip,” Callie muttered under her breath when Taylor left the room. She just admitted she might like you. No reason to read anything into it.
Callie watched Taylor as she came back into the kitchen and went to get her a glass of water. When she got back to the table and handed her the pill, Callie took it without any argument. She wasn’t going to deny she needed it. Acting tough was one thing, but acting tough to the detriment of your own well-being was another. After she swallowed the pill, she looked up at Taylor and grinned.
“So, you think I’m charming?”
“And egotistical, apparently.” Taylor shook her head and took the chair across from her. “My mother was the one who used the word. I was just repeating it.”
“Oh.”
“You don’t need to sound so disappointed.” Taylor laughed and reached over to touch her hand. When Callie looked down, Taylor pulled her hand away. “Sorry.”
“For what?” Callie asked. “You haven’t done anything you need to be sorry for.”
“I shouldn’t have touched you.”
“Why? It doesn’t have to mean anything, you know.” Of course, that didn’t mean Callie didn’t want it to mean something. She just didn’t want Taylor to freak out about it. “Friends touch like that sometimes.”
“Friends?” Taylor sounded surprised. “I’m not sure we’re there quite yet.”
“But we’re on our way, right?” Callie stared at her hand as she drummed her fingers on the tabletop. When Taylor didn’t answer, she looked up and met her eyes. “I mean, if I’m traveling down this road of getting to know each other better all by my lonesome, I think you should tell me now.”
“You aren’t,” Taylor said, but she looked away before saying it. Callie leaned forward and took her hand, holding a little tighter than she needed to because she thought Taylor would try to pull away.
“Listen, I know it’s been over three years, but Andrea was my best friend. And you were her wife.” Callie paused, but Taylor still refused to look at her. “We both dealt with her loss alone. Maybe it’s time to talk about it.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“Isn’t there?” She squeezed Taylor’s fingers briefly. “For all this time I’ve been convinced that not only do you hate me, but you also blamed me for her death.”
“I never blamed you. I never blamed anyone.”
“She ran back into a burning building to save a child. Sounds like something a reckless idiot like me would do, don’t you think?”
Callie felt a tear running down her cheek, and she wanted to wipe it away, but Taylor chose that moment to look at her, and she closed her other hand around Callie’s, holding her in place. Callie couldn’t look at her. She hung her head and took a deep breath. Taylor held her hand tightly until Callie finally met her eyes.
“She ran back in to save a little girl because that was who she was,” Taylor said quietly. “She died doing what she loved. I knew every time she walked out the door there was a chance she wouldn’t be coming home. Knowing it could happen didn’t make it any easier to deal with when it did. It was something we both knew was possible, and we talked about it many tim
es. I’ve had such a hard time dealing with it because we had a fight before she left for work.”
“I know.” Callie pulled her hand away and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “She told me. She wanted a baby and you didn’t.”
“Jesus, did everyone know?”
“I’m pretty sure she didn’t tell anyone but me.”
“I called her to apologize for the awful things I said, but she didn’t answer. I left a message, but she didn’t call me back. I don’t think she ever got it.” Taylor began to cry, and Callie got to her feet to go kneel in front of her.
“Hey, Taylor, she did get the message,” Callie said. Taylor looked at her, her eyes overflowing with tears.
“Why didn’t she call me back?”
“She said she was going to.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Taylor looked pissed, but then her expression softened. “I’m sorry. Why would you have? We weren’t exactly talking at the time.”
“I thought she’d done it. When everything happened, it sort of slipped my mind.” Callie reached up and brushed a lock of hair away that had fallen in front of Taylor’s eyes. She let her hand linger on her cheek, and Taylor leaned into her touch for a moment. “She didn’t die with the argument being her last memory of you.”
Taylor closed her eyes and cried for a few moments, and Callie wasn’t sure what to do. Finally, she stood to go back to her seat, but Taylor stood as well, and embraced her carefully, so as not to hurt her shoulder.
“Thank you,” she said into Callie’s ear. The subtlety of breath in such a sensitive area caused a shiver to run through Callie. “Thank you for telling me.”
“I’m just sorry I didn’t think to tell you sooner.”
Taylor pulled away and wiped the tears from her cheeks. Callie could tell by the look in her eye Taylor’s imaginary wall had gone back up between them, so she let out a breath and went to get more coffee. At least it was a start. With time, maybe they could actually become friends.
Chapter Ten
Twice in a Lifetime Page 6