Page 1 of That: Taylor & Brooks

Chapter 1

September 26th

Taylor stepped out of Coupeville City Memorial into the cool night air, a sigh slipped from her lips as exhaustion sank deep into her bones.

Her title might've been Executive Assistant, but tonight she just felt... done.

With the day. With the weight.

And especially with a husband who still hadn’t shown up.

Her calves ached, her ankles pulsed, and her heels, cute but disrespectful, had declared war on her feet.

She pulled her jacket tighter, the fall wind slicing through the nearly empty lot.

It had been a week since her car broke down and Tyree had promised to pick up the slack. Most of his promises had been paper-thin lately. This one was no different. She couldn’t believe she fell for it again.

She checked her phone again, no missed calls, no texts. A blank screen and the rising tide of embarrassment tightening in her chest. Stranded. Like some teenager waiting for a ride that wasn’t coming.

The city lights from Main flickered in the distance, reminding her that Coupeville never really slept. Just rested its eyes, she was safe but that wasn’t the point.

“Need a ride home?” Sarah from Cardiology asked, jingling her keys, concern etched across her face. “You helped me sort out my mess with HR last month. I owe you.”

Taylor looked at the empty lot, then at her coworker’s hopeful face.

“I’m good. He’s just running late,” she lied, slipping her phone back into her purse.

She hated the burn of making excuses for him. Even more than the ache in her feet.

Sarah gave a hesitant smile before heading off. Taylor watched her walk away, an old familiar pang of jealousy crawling up her chest. She hated how bitter she felt, but she couldn’t help it. Her car was taking forever at the shop, and now she had to depend on the man who never showed up when it counted.

“Where is he?” She muttered, rechecking her phone for what felt like the hundredth time.

Her eyes scanned the lot again, almost hoping she missed his car in the dark.

But nothing.

Just the same blank screen staring back at her. Her head pounded as she rubbed her temple, willing herself to calm down.

All she wanted was a scalding hot shower, some silence, and her bed.

The day had been a blur of smiling, solving, and performing. She was holding it together with a bobby pin and a prayer.

“Mrs. Martin, everything okay? I tried to mind my business, but you been standing here a while. I had to stop and ask.”

She dropped her purse onto the bench beside heras the security guard stared at her. This was his third time searching her eyes. And each time he passed, he looked more concerned than the last.

“Mr. Cary, I’m fine. Don’t worry he’ll be here.”

She wasn’t fine, she was far from fine. She was pissed. Sad. Aching. Longing. A swirl of too much all at once. The emotional highs and lows were having their way with her as she lied each time someone stopped and asked if she needed a ride.

And if another person stopped to ask, she was sure she’d burst into tears.

“Lord, why me?” She knew better than to question God, but she was fed up of believing things would change when deep down she knew good and well they wouldn’t. As a preacher’s kid, she’d been raised to believe trials made people stronger and suffering was a test of faith.

“Wait on the Lord,” they said.

Right now, waiting felt like punishment.

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