Chapter 7
Joe made his way into the house and headed for the locker room. He changed into his CFD uniform, and stowed his bag in his locker. He hated to leave Taylor, but she had to be at work too. He was still amazed at how his life had turned around in just 72 hours.
He felt his phone vibrate and he pulled it out of his pocket. He read the text and smiled.
Have a good day. Be safe. Love, T.
He stood there with a goofy grin on his face as he texted back to her.
You too. Fly safe. J.
Otis opened his locker door. "So what's up? You haven't been home for a couple of days."
"Ran into an old friend and stayed there for a couple of days," Joe said, not wanting to explain, but knowing he was going to have to.
"The girl from the bar?"
Joe leaned against his locker. "Yes, the girl from the bar. And before you start, she's my old girlfriend from high school."
Otis stood there with his mouth hanging open.
"What? You don't think I had a girlfriend before?"
"No, it's not that," Otis said, recovering from the shock. "You've just never talked about her before."
"Long story," he said as he sat down on the bench. "She left to join the Navy."
"And left you behind."
"That is what I thought at the time. Turns out, that wasn't true."
Otis nodded. "So you're going to try again?"
"Yes. We're trying again. So far, so good."
"It's only been 48 hours, Joe. Lots of stuff can happen down the road."
"And if and when it does, I'll handle it." He stood up, not wanting to talk about the possibility of bad stuff happening to him and Taylor. He left the locker room and made his way to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee.