“Where’s Taylor?” she asked again, getting frustrated with Quinn talking about her condition. She needed to know about Taylor. “Is she okay?”
“She can go home in the morning,” Quinn said. “No concussion, which I think surprised everyone given the knot on her head. She’s got a couple of bruised ribs, and some cuts on her hand from a broken glass. Nothing too serious. She’s pretty anxious to see you though.”
“Then let me up.”
“Just sit still for a minute. I’ve pushed your call button, and the nurse will be here in a minute. Grace is with Taylor right now.”
Callie closed her eyes and she felt tears coming. She turned her face away from Quinn so she wouldn’t be able to see. The events of the night rushed back to her, and she couldn’t stop the sob that escaped her.
“Hey, Callie?” Quinn placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. “Everything’s okay. You’re both safe, and Sharon’s gone.”
“I thought I was going to lose her, Quinn,” Callie said, refusing to look at her. There was a window in her line of sight, but the curtains were closed, so she couldn’t see out. It was still a much more acceptable option than having her sister see her break down though.
“But you didn’t,” Quinn said softly. Callie felt the bed move as Quinn sat beside her. She was surprised when she grabbed her hand and tried to get her to turn so she could see her face. “I’m your sister. We grew up together. Hell, we did almost everything together, Callie. I’ve seen you cry. It isn’t anything to be ashamed of.”
Callie squeezed the hand that was holding hers and accepted the tissue Quinn offered with her other hand. She wiped her nose and tried to get rid of the tears on her cheeks before finally looking at her.
“You love her, don’t you?” Quinn asked. When Callie didn’t answer, not because she couldn’t, but because she was scared to admit it, Quinn smiled. “I’m pretty sure she feels the same way about you, and I’m so sorry I gave you a hard time about it in the beginning. I see how the two of you look at each other, and I honestly haven’t seen her this happy since before Andrea died. I’m happy for both of you.”
“Jesus, you’d better get the hell out of here before I start to think you have a heart,” Callie said, causing them both to laugh. The nurse walked in then, and Callie gave Quinn a serious look. “Thank you, Quinn. I don’t know what I’d do without you, you know that, right?”
Quinn simply nodded before she stood to give the nurse room, and she thought Quinn looked as if she might start crying any second. A thought struck her, and she grabbed Quinn’s hand again.
“Taylor’s parents are coming tomorrow. Has anyone called them?”
“She called them herself as soon as she was settled in a room for the night.”
“What time is it?”
“It’s after two in the morning,” the nurse said as she fussed with checking Callie out.
“I need to go see her,” Callie said.
“Maybe you didn’t hear me say it’s after two in the morning?” The nurse gave her a look that left no room for argument. Callie wondered if the woman even knew how to smile. “You aren’t going anywhere until the doctor comes in at seven.”
“Calliope, what the hell are you doing back here?” David asked as he walked in and moved to her side, effectively pushing the nurse out of the way.
“I’m so happy to see you I won’t even bitch about you calling me Calliope,” she said, the relief almost physical in nature. Less than ten minutes later, she’d given him the whole story, and he was in the process of getting her discharged and making arrangements to have her go to Taylor’s room.
“Thank you,” she said as she hugged him when he brought them to Taylor’s room but stopped right outside of it. “You’re the best, Dave.”
“Just take care of yourself, all right? I don’t want to see you back here anytime soon.”
“She broke up with me,” she said when David was gone.
“I have faith you two can get past that.” Quinn squeezed her shoulder briefly. “You’re a Burke. You can convince her you belong together.”
Quinn stood there by her side, waiting for her to be ready to walk in. Callie looked at her and opened the door. Grace stood from the chair she was sitting in and came to hug Callie.
“She keeps waking up and asking for you,” she said quietly. She took Quinn’s hand and led her back to the door. “We’ll go get some coffee and be back in a bit.”
Callie nodded, feeling like she was going to burst into tears again. She didn’t even want to think about what she’d do without either one of them in her life. She finally glanced over to the bed where Taylor was, and was met by a bright smile.
“It’s about time you got here,” she said. “I was worried sick about you after you passed out in the ambulance.”
Callie felt her face flush and she scratched the back of her neck. “Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I just crashed after all the excitement was over.”
“Come here,” Taylor said, holding a hand out to her. When Callie sat, she brought Taylor’s hand to her lips but never broke eye contact.
“I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost you,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she once again felt tears threatening.
“But you didn’t. We’re both here, and we’re both alive.” Taylor squeezed her hand. “I’m just thankful you were there, and Randy knew what I wanted him to do with my phone.”
“And to think you were worried about my job being high risk.” Callie grinned, and Taylor laughed, although it was obviously painful based on the wince she sported. “Who thought yours would be more dangerous than mine?”
“Not so fast there, tiger,” she said with a shake of her head, but she looked thoughtful. “I may have taken the butt of a gun to the face, but you actually got shot. I think yours still takes top honors as being the most dangerous. But you’re right. Given the right circumstances, I guess any job can be dangerous.”
Callie was overcome with emotion. She leaned down, careful not to hurt Taylor’s ribs, and placed a soft kiss on her lips.
“I love you,” she whispered against her lips before pulling back. Taylor was staring at her and Callie wondered if she’d even heard what she said. She only had a few seconds to speculate on it before Taylor reached up and touched her cheek.
“Callie, I—”
“I know this isn’t the ideal place to make such a declaration, and I really don’t expect you to say it in return, okay?” Callie knew the words might not be received well, but the look of fear she saw on Taylor’s face made her seriously rethink sharing it. Oh, well. Too late now. “I’m just a little emotionally overwhelmed at the moment, and I needed to say it. I needed to let you know how I felt. But no pressure, I promise.”
Callie felt the tightness in her chest ease a bit when Taylor smiled and nodded. And she felt better about sharing as she watched Taylor wipe her eyes.
“You called your parents kind of late, huh?” Callie asked, deciding a change of subject was warranted.
“I was going to wait until morning, but Quinn and Grace wouldn’t let me.” She smiled.
“They’re still coming though, right?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they were already on their way,” Taylor said, attempting again to laugh, but she winced and pressed a hand to her side.
“Good, because you probably shouldn’t be alone for the first couple of days at least. Especially with a dog that might jump on you in his puppy like exuberance.” Callie looked away when Taylor gave her another strange look. “I mean, I just wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. Blaze can get a little rough when he’s excited.”
“Callie, look at me,” she said. Callie didn’t do as she’d requested right away, so she squeezed her hand. “Don’t make me hurt you, because I’m pretty sure it would hurt me too, but I will if I have to.” Callie met her eyes then and Taylor gave her a slow smile. “I assumed you would want to stay with me. If you don’t, that’
s fine.”
“I wasn’t sure you’d want me to.” She winked at her and smiled back. “I can get a little rough when I’m excited too, you know.”
“I know this about you, but I think I can handle it. Will you stay with me, at least for a few days?”
“Of course I will. I can sleep on the couch. Because, you know, you ended things between us.”
“I’d like to revisit that, if you want to. I told my parents we’re more than friends.” Taylor grinned when Callie pretended to be shocked. “The couch is a sleeper, and my parents can sleep on it. You’re more than welcome to sleep in my bed with me.”
“I would love to revisit that, Ms. Fletcher. But I have a bone to pick. I slept on that uncomfortable couch for two nights, and you never thought to tell me it pulled out into a bed?”
“Forgive me?” Taylor smiled at her, and Callie felt her insides turn to mush.
She leaned down and kissed her, fully intending it to be quick and chaste, but Taylor evidently had other ideas. She put a hand on the back of Callie’s neck and pulled her closer as she deepened the kiss.
Callie wasn’t going to argue.
Chapter Thirty
Taylor woke the next morning before the sun came up and was surprised to find Callie in a chair next to the hospital bed, her head against Taylor’s hip and a hand resting on her stomach. Taylor put a hand over hers and smiled, remembering their conversation from the night before.
She said she loved me.
She had to admit, when Callie said those words, it had surprised her, but not in a bad way. Taylor hadn’t known what to say in response, and frankly, she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to say anything, even if she had known what to say.
Do I love her?
Until Sharon hit her with the gun, it wasn’t something she’d given any real thought to since her mother mentioned it on Christmas Eve. She still loved Andrea. She knew she probably always would, and she was pretty sure Callie knew it too. But could Grace have been right? Was it possible to find that kind of love twice in a lifetime? Taylor always believed she and Andrea would grow old together, but then she was taken far too soon.
When Quinn had been questioning whether or not it would be wise to gamble losing her friendship with Grace by declaring her love a few months ago, Taylor gave her some advice that had made perfect sense at the time. She’d told her she needed to decide if trying to make a life with Grace was worth the risk. And for her, loving Andrea had been worth the risk. Even with everything that happened, she wouldn’t have given up any of it just to be spared the loss. Maybe it was time she took her own advice, or at least seriously considered it.
Would loving Callie be worth the risk to her? She began to absently run her fingers through Callie’s hair as she considered the question. She was funny, caring, and extremely charming. Blaze was obviously enamored with her. She’d been Andrea’s best friend, so apparently Andrea had seen the good in her.
And Callie had been the first one to take the risk by declaring her love for Taylor, which wasn’t something she could simply dismiss. She sighed and closed her eyes, wishing Andrea could give her some sign. She chuckled at her foolishness and glanced at Callie, who was still asleep.
“I will always love you, Andrea,” she whispered, looking at the ceiling. “But I think it might really be time to move on. I hope you’ll understand.”
Callie stirred then, and Taylor removed her hand from her hair. When Callie raised her head and looked at her, Taylor didn’t fight the feeling that came over her. Callie was worth the risk. She smiled, but saying the words here, in the hospital room, didn’t seem right. She’d wait until later to tell her how she felt.
* * *
“What’s going on here?” Taylor asked when she and Callie arrived at her house. She looked warily at Quinn’s car parked in her driveway. When they walked inside, there was the most wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen.
Her parents had arrived at the hospital before Taylor was discharged, so she’d given them her keys in order for them to get settled and to allow Blaze back into his house. Apparently, they’d let Quinn and Grace in as well.
“They wanted to help out,” her mother said with a smile when she met them just inside the front door. She had Blaze on a leash, which Taylor knew from experience he wasn’t liking much, but he sat there looking at her, his tail wagging. It was obvious he knew something was wrong with her. “They’re making lunch for us.”
“Welcome home,” Linda Burke said when she walked out of the kitchen and found them all huddled just inside the door. She took everyone’s coats and ushered them into the kitchen. Taylor felt as though she’d been gone for weeks, when in reality, she’d been here less than twenty-four hours ago. “How are you feeling?”
“A little sore here,” she answered, indicating her ribs. She touched her head where there was a rather large bruise, and more than a few stitches. “And I have a bit of a headache.”
“You want one of the painkillers they gave you at the hospital?” Callie asked, pulling the bottle out of her pocket. Taylor nodded and watched her go to the sink to get her a glass of water.
“You look much better than you did last night,” Quinn said.
“But still a mess, right?” Taylor asked good-naturedly.
“You said it, I didn’t.” Quinn grinned and turned back to what she was cooking.
“You’re going to have to take care of the bar for a few days,” Callie told Quinn as she squeezed by her on her way back to Taylor. “The doctor said she should take it easy for a while.”
“Yeah, about that.” Quinn handed the spatula to Grace and kissed her cheek before coming and sitting at the table with Taylor. “You still want me to become your general manager?”
“Are you serious?” Taylor thought she must be dreaming. It was something she’d been trying to get Quinn to do for months, but she’d always refused. Taylor watched her for a moment, then looked at Callie, who was smiling. “Don’t joke about this, Quinn.”
“No joke,” Quinn assured her. “Grace and I talked it over, and we decided now that you have a life outside the bar again, you shouldn’t feel like you need to be there all the time.”
“I think I should be offended by that, but I’ll let it slide for now,” Taylor said. “You have a life outside the bar too, you know.”
“Yeah, but you know,” Quinn said before leaning close to her and whispering, “you’re old.”
Taylor backhanded her in the stomach and laughed. “I’m two months older than you, you bitch.” She glared at Callie. “Did you have anything to do with this?”
“They told me this morning,” Callie said, her hands in the air. “I had no idea.”
“Honey,” her mother said from where she was standing behind Taylor. “Maybe you should take her up on it. You’d be able to do things you always wanted to do.”
Of course she was going to take her up on it, but she had no intention of letting Quinn know it yet. It might be nice to let her sweat about it for a while. It would serve her right for having turned her down on the offer for so long.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, but Quinn’s smirk let her know she wasn’t fooling her.
“Okay, we have homemade chicken soup, thanks to Linda,” Grace said with an affectionate smile for Callie and Quinn’s mother. “And Quinn made some pretty awesome grilled cheese sandwiches, if I do say so myself.”
“I’ll get yours,” Callie said, leaning down to speak into Taylor’s ear. She planted a kiss on her cheek before walking over to the stove to get their soup.
“I’m so happy you finally decided to let someone in, honey,” her mother said as they both watched Callie and Quinn playfully shoving each other. Taylor felt her father place a hand on her shoulder and squeeze gently.
“We both are,” he said. “And I like her. It’s pretty obvious she cares a great deal for you.”
“She told me she loves me,” Taylor said, not having intended to say it out loud, but there i
t was. Her heart fluttered when Callie turned and winked at her. She was even more sure now than she had been that morning of what she felt for Callie. And she couldn’t explain why, but she had the feeling that Andrea approved.
* * *
“Are you okay?” Callie asked when they both went out into the backyard with Blaze a little later. Everyone else was in the living room, talking about plans for the evening, of which nobody seemed to have other than watching the festivities on television.
“I’m fine,” Taylor said with a smile.
Callie stood there watching Blaze run around the yard, apparently looking for the perfect spot to pee. She worried about Taylor. She’d shot someone. Not only that, but she’d killed someone. Killing someone would mess with anybody’s head, wouldn’t it?
“Hey,” Taylor said, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. “What’s on your mind?”
“Maybe you should talk to someone,” she said gently. “A professional.”
“For what?”
“Taylor, you killed someone. If that happened to me, I’d have to spend weeks with a department psychiatrist to make sure I was able to process it properly.”
“She was going to kill me,” Taylor said. “She said as much after you shot at her. And she said after she took care of me, she was going to kill you. There was no way I was going to let that happen to you. It was self-defense, Callie. I don’t regret what I did.”
“Promise me something.” Callie waited for her to nod her agreement. “If you ever do start to have problems because of what happened, promise me you’ll see someone.”
“I promise,” she said before pulling her even closer and kissing her. “But right now, I just feel relief to know she won’t ever be able to bother either one of us again.”
“Is this a private party, or can anyone join?” Quinn asked when she walked out to join them. “Damn, it’s cold out here.”
“That’s why we’re wearing jackets, you idiot,” Callie said with a laugh.
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