Chapter 13

Shift over, Joe made his way down the hall to his apartment. He stopped short when he noticed a figure sitting beside his apartment door. "Taylor?" he asked.

"Hi,"she said.

"What's going on?" he asked.

He looked her over from head to toe. She looked awful. Dark circles were under her eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot indicating either a lack of sleep or from crying. She looked about 10 pounds thinner—weight she couldn't afford to lose. He took a step forward and held out his hand. She took it, and he pulled her up from her sitting position. He wrapped her in his arms. "I'm so sorry," he said as he hugged her tighter. "I was an ass."

"I'm sorry I embarrassed you. I should have just let you go as a ghost instead of trying to be a smartass." She snuggled into his shoulder.

"Shhh… it's okay," he soothed. "You didn't do anything wrong. I was an ass. And I almost lost you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Want to go grab some breakfast?" he asked hopefully.

She nodded. "But I need a nap first."

Joe unlocked the door. "Come on in. It will be quiet because Otis is pulling some overtime over at 4."

She followed him inside. "I just need an hour and then I'll be good."

"Sleep as long as you need to. You know where the bedroom is."

She took off her jacket and shoes. She knew where the bedroom was because she and Joe were getting down to some serious business when Otis had come home unexpectedly. "Just give me an hour. When I wake up, I'll cook."

Joe waited till Taylor was asleep and quietly left the apartment. He didn't want to be gone long, but he had a very important errand to run.

An hour later, Joe returned with groceries. He put them away, then went to wake up Taylor.

She opened the bathroom door just as he walked by. "Oh. Hi," she greeted.

"Hi. I was just going to wake you up."

"I'm up. I'll be out as soon as I get dressed."

He glanced down at her to see she was wearing her UCAN tee shirt. While everything was covered, he stared down at the floor. "Ok. I'll give you privacy."

Taylor reached out and hugged him. "You're so sweet," she said as she kissed his cheek. "Give me 3 minutes."

Three minutes later, she was in the kitchen checking out the contents of the fridge. "Omelettes okay?" she called to Joe who was in the living room watching ESPN.

"Sounds good," he agreed. He didn't care what Taylor made for breakfast. He liked everything she cooked.

"So I got Blackhawks tickets for Sunday night. Are you on shift?" she called from the kitchen.

"No, start back Monday."

"Would you like to go? And please say yes because I don't want to have to sell the tickets to a scalper."

"Sure, I'll go. Can't let a ticket go to waste."

"Awesome!" She cut the omelette in half, and added bacon to the plate. "Do you want toast?"

"No, but juice would be nice."

She set the plates on the table, and got the orange juice from the fridge. She poured two glasses and cups of coffee. "Ok, we're ready."

Joe set the remote down and made his way over to the table. "It looks good."

"Sit. Eat."

He walked over to her and pulled out her chair. "Sit. Eat."

Taylor smiled, and sat. Joe pushed in her chair before taking his seat. He dug into his eggs, then took a sip of coffee. "So, what are you doing for Thanksgiving?"

"Working Midnight," she said as she picked up a strip of bacon.

"Midnight to Eight or Midnight to Noon?"

"Midnight to Noon. Why?"

"Would you like to go out and have dinner after work?"

She nodded. "I'd like that." She cut into her omelette. "I signed up for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years because we weren't talking and I didn't want to be by myself."

"We'll work on it. We can coordinate schedules. Even if it means having dinner at Midnight."

"You'd do that?"

"Of course."

Taylor sat back and looked at him. She always knew Joe had a big heart, but she never expected him to change his schedule because she was working. "Thank you."

Joe waved his hand. "Anytime."