Taylor nodded. She liked these men already. She didn’t know them, but they’d done everything right. She felt comfortable giving them the benefit of the doubt.
“So you met Eagle at the grocery store, huh?” Bull asked. “He hates that place.”
“I know, he told me,” Taylor said.
“You weren’t hurt in the altercation you witnessed, were you?” Gramps asked.
“No. Everything happened so fast. The guy in the convertible whipped into the spot so quickly, the man driving the van didn’t even have a chance to get in there. He jumped out and started screaming, and then the fight was on. It was crazy.”
“Did anyone try to stop them?” Smoke asked.
“No. They were beating the hell out of each other, and one pulled a knife,” Taylor said. “No one was going to step into that. A few people videoed it, though, of course. Luckily there were lots of witnesses, so they didn’t need me.”
“Don’t do that,” Eagle suggested.
Taylor looked at him in surprise.
“We’ve talked about this. Just because you wouldn’t be able to point them out in a lineup doesn’t mean you wouldn’t make a good witness. You were very clear in what you saw and what happened. You gave the cops a vivid picture of who took the first swing and who was in the wrong. The other witnesses were able to back up what you said. Don’t discount what you can offer simply because you wouldn’t recognize their faces.”
They had talked about that one day on the phone, and Eagle had basically said the same thing then. Taylor had blown him off, thinking he was just being nice, but she could see now that he one hundred percent believed what he was saying. And it felt good.
“And that cop was out of line, saying what he did,” Eagle added.
“What’d he say?” Gramps asked.
“He compared Taylor’s condition to that movie 50 First Dates,” Eagle told his friends.
At their looks of confusion, Taylor quickly explained. “I take it you haven’t seen it. Drew Barrymore has a condition where she doesn’t remember anything that happens after going to sleep each night. So every day is a blank slate. Adam Sandler starts dating her, but he has to get to know her from scratch every day because she never remembers him. It’s a comedy. But that’s not anywhere near my issue. There’s nothing wrong with my memory. I’ll remember meeting you guys, seeing this amazing building, and eating lasagna. But tomorrow, if you all lined up in front of me, I wouldn’t know who’s who.” She shrugged. “That movie’s kinda been the bane of my existence.”
“I can imagine,” Bull said.
“That sucks,” Gramps commiserated.
“I’m hungry,” Smoke threw out after a moment.
Taylor giggled.
“And those are my friends,” Eagle said with a sigh.
“What? We’ve been smelling the lasagna cooking all day,” Smoke defended himself. “It’s been torture.”
“Skylar should be here any minute,” Bull said. “She stayed late at school to change out her bulletin boards.”
“Great. I want to show Taylor the dispatch room before we eat. Hopefully Sky’ll be here by then,” Eagle said as he stood.
Taylor followed, as did the others. She kind of wanted to look around the small room he’d shown her some more, but Eagle put his hand on her back and urged her toward the door. The heat from his touch felt good. Which made Taylor feel guilty.
Eagle was her friend. That was it. He couldn’t be more. Wouldn’t want to be more.
They all walked back up the stairs, and she and Eagle headed for one door while the other three continued on into the great room and toward the kitchen.
Eagle opened the door, and Taylor saw a woman sitting in front of three large monitors. She wore a headset and was obviously talking to someone.
“The accident is blocking the right lane, but you should be able to sneak around the traffic by using the shoulder . . . right, let me know when you’re on scene.”
Then she turned and smiled. “Hey.”
“Busy?” Eagle asked.
The woman shrugged. “No more than usual.”
“Christine, this is Taylor. You’ll hopefully be seeing her around now and then.”
“Hi,” Christine said, her smile wide and friendly.
“Hey.”
“Are you a new driver?”
Before Taylor could answer, Eagle explained. “No. She’s my friend. She’s the one who showed me which damn flour to get the last time I shopped.”
“Oh!” Christine exclaimed. “Thank God you were there. Eagle’s awesome, but he sucks at shopping.”
“Hey, I’m not that bad,” Eagle said.
“Um . . . yeah, you are. It’s a good thing Archer’s here now. Have you had some of his lasagna yet? Robert brought me a slice not too long ago. I inhaled it! Archer’s a god in the kitchen. If he leaves, I’m quitting.”
“No one’s leaving or quitting,” Eagle said in exasperation.
“I’m just sayin’ . . . he’s that good,” Christine told her boss.
“Noted,” Eagle said with a small shake of his head. “Any problems tonight?”
“Nope. All’s good,” Christine said breezily. “Go on, go get some of that lasagna. There might not be any left if you don’t get there before Bull, Smoke, and Gramps. They’ve been salivating for dinner all afternoon.”
“Shit!” Eagle swore, feigning panic and grabbing Taylor’s hand and tugging her toward the door.
Taylor managed to turn and say, “It was nice meeting you!” as she was pulled toward the door.
“Same! Enjoy dinner!” Christine called out.
Taylor was too amused to protest as Eagle pulled her down the hallway. When he entered the great room, he bellowed, “Freeze!”
Gramps and Smoke were in the kitchen, and they immediately turned to stare at Eagle. Bull was standing on the other side of the room kissing a woman, who Taylor could only assume was his girlfriend, Skylar. Neither stopped their kissing at Eagle’s loud command. There were two men sitting at the bar, and they comically froze with their forks halfway to their mouths.
“Step away from the lasagna,” Eagle told Smoke and Gramps.
Both men grinned.
“Relax. No matter what Christine told you, there’s plenty,” Gramps said, turning to continue what he was doing. He plopped the biggest piece of lasagna Taylor had ever seen onto a plate in front of him.
“There’d better be,” Eagle mock threatened as he headed for the kitchen. He hadn’t let go of her hand, and Taylor didn’t have the urge to remind him he was still towing her around. He started to reach for the handle of a cabinet when he finally realized he was still holding her hand. “Sorry,” he said a little sheepishly, squeezing her fingers before finally letting go.
“It’s okay,” she told him softly.
Eagle grabbed two plates and headed for the pan of lasagna. There was only a quarter of the pan left, and Taylor frowned in concern when Eagle heaped a big portion of it onto one plate, and most of the remaining piece on the other.
“Um . . . I don’t want to take the last piece,” she said.