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“It’s working itself out a friend is helping out until my car’s fixed. Nothing more to worry about,” she said carefully. She’d already declared she was making this weekend about her. Drinking wine, listening to music, sleeping in. She was not going to be defeated.

“Must be some friend.” Her tone was casual, but her look wasn’t. “Look, honey, I don’t need to know your business. But whatever’s going on? Handle it. You’re too good at what you do to let personal drama affect your work.”

The gentle scold stung, mostly because it was true. Taylor nodded, forcing a smile. “You’re right. I’m sorry about the Thompson file. My wires got crossed. It won’t happen again.”

“I know it won’t. This place doesn’t run without you. You are valuable ok,” Patti stood, smoothing her skirt. “Listen, you’re going to take the rest of the week off and get yourself together. Paid leave. No arguments. You deserve that.”

“Patti, I can’t. I haven’t had time off in a while. I’ll be so behind.”

“You can and you will. Consider it a mental health incentive. Starting now.” She paused at the door. “Rest.”

“Thank you, Patti. I’ll be back on my A game.”

Another moment of silence. Taylor could see that Patti was conflicted with what to say next. Which made what she said next all the more important.

“I know. Taylor? Sometimes what looks like falling apart is really just things falling into place. Be easy on yourself. Be easy with yourself.”

With that cryptic wisdom, she left, leaving Taylor to sink back in her chair, wondering how her carefully constructed life had become so obviously messy that even her boss could see the cracks. That pissed her off even more with Tyree. He was affecting her work, and she didn’t play about that. Her job meant a lot to her. She’d worked hard to be where she was. If she lost her job, she’d be expected to work at her parents’ church. And she couldn’t do that. The thought gave her a headache.

She didn’t leave right away. She just sat there, breathing. Letting herself be still.

A vibration against her desk pulled her from the undertow of her thoughts.

Brooks: My bad if I’m overstepping.

Taylor read the message twice, a slow smile tugging at her lips despite herself. She shook her head,warmth spreading through her chest. Because Brooks wasn’t overstepping. He simply existed, efficient and capable, making her life easier without demanding anything in return. His version of protection wasn’t a performance. It was instinct. Molecular. Absolute.

It wasn’t his fault she didn’t know how to deal with that.

Taylor:I’m just not used to this. What if Blake sees me in your car?

The weight of disrespecting her friend was heavy on her. Outside of her fractured marriage, beyond the mess she had yet to clean up, her friends’ judgment and feelings mattered.

Brooks:You act like we fuckin or something. It’s a car that happens to be mine. What’s the big deal?

Taylor:And the big deal is that I’m still married.

Brooks: Again, it don’t seem like it to me. Matter of fact, quit bringing that nigga up around me or to me. I don’t care about him or the piece of paper tying y’all together.

Taylor:Are you serious?”

Brooks:Dead.

Taylor set the phone down, and laughed to herself. There was something endearing about Brooks having smoke with her husband, a husband he barely knew. But the laugh didn’t last. Because even without touching her, Brooks had her questioning things she thought were non-negotiable.

She wasn’t in love. Not cheating. Not technically. But she had no business entertaining another man, let alone Brooks.

Her heart was moving. Shifting. Cracking open in ways it hadn’t in years—and she couldn’t stop it.

She’d built her identity around being the responsible one. The logical one. The one who didn’t get caught up in mess. She knewGod didn’t bless no mess.

So what did it say about her if she could even entertain this?

Still married, technically. But the vows didn’t mean what they used to. Not to him. And now? Not to her either.

What if she hurt Brooks in the process? What if he caught feelings, and she couldn’t meet him there?

A woman who had spent years shrinking herself, making space for a man who took nothing and gave everything, was disrupting her comfort. She needed to get on stable footing and stat. He was everything good after everything hard. The last thing she wanted was to taint something good.