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Taylor twisted her jaw, dialed his number once more. His voicemail was all she was met with.

“Tyree, if you don’t pick up this doggone phone or call me back, we are going to have a serious problem. I’m going to be left to assume you want a divorce, because no husband of mine should have me waiting outside in the cold.”

She rubbed her temple again, fighting back tears. Her gut was telling her something was wrong. Her gut was also telling her this was the last straw.

“Fuck,” she fussed, stomping her foot. She hated that she had no plan. No person.

“Opps, sorry, my bad, Lord.”

“This is ridiculous,” she muttered. The hospital’sservice was garbage, and she needed one bar to try his number again. Taylor groaned, kicked off her shoes, and began to pace as she stepped out from under the awning and held her phone up, desperate for a better signal.

She was certain she looked like she should be admitted to the third floor with the mental patients, but she pressed on. The voicemail notification appeared on cue.

“Ouu bars,” she exclaimed, pressing play and lifting the phone to her ear. But it wasn’t Tyree’s voice coming through her phone.

“Mrs. Martin, this is Officer Sola with CCPD. Your husband was arrested for DUI, evading arrest, and endangering the public. His vehicle is being held at Wilson’s Impound on 6th Street. It’s drivable but barely...”

The rest of the message faded into a low vibration in her ears as reality sank in like dead weight. Her hand dropped to her side. Her phone dangled from her fingers.

DUI. Again.

She grew lightheaded, as if the ground shifted under her. Her wedding ring burned on her finger. She was stranded at work, holding it together for the both of them, while Tyree was in a jail cell. She was beginning to despise him. And blame herself. She knew better.

It was the “endangering the public” part that knocked the wind out of her. That was new. Next level.

“Well, isn’t that just great?” The words were dry and flat now, more of a sigh than a statement. She exhaled, thumb dragging across her contacts, every scroll slower than the last.

But she kept scrolling.

Then she saw his name.

Brooks.

She paused.

Held her breath. Just seeing his name brought heat to her neck and thumping in her ear she couldn’t quite explain.

She shouldn’t. But her thumb didn’t move away either.

She hovered over his name. Calling her best friend Blake would bring drama. An Uber cost money she didn’t have. She wouldn’t dare bring her parents out at this time of night. Brooks meant something else. Or maybe it didn’t. He owned a towing company. This wouldn’t be strange at all.

Still, she knew one thing: Brooks was steady. Like mountains. Easy, like Sunday morning. He didn’t press, didn’t pry. If she called, he’d just handle it, no judgment, no fixing. Just presence.

She’d always respected that about him. The way he stood in the gap for Blake, the way he didn’t need an explanation to show up. And right now, she needed that kind of steadiness. Someone to handle things without trying to handle her.

“Ugh. Don’t overthink it, Taylor.”

She typed out a message:I need a favor.

Too desperate. Delete.

Hey, are you busy?

It felt too casual. Almost like this was just another day of her texting him.

Delete.

Her fingers hovered over the keyboard. How did you text someone you barely spoke to? Someone you were only reaching out to because you had no otherchoice. The thought made her stomach turn. Even thinking about it made her feel like a user, but she couldn’t sit there any longer. She just couldn’t.