“Yeah, it’s good to do something different once in a while. Other than cook or arrest people.”
Taylor laughed, “I see you’re better at this than plumbing.”
Sean gave her a studied look, “I’m sure I am.”
“So, what else are you good at? Besides being a cop and painting and keeping a girl from falling on her face?”
He gave her a considered look, “I could tell you, but it might embarrass you.”
She stared for a moment and then looked back at the wall she was painting.
He put his hand into the paint pan and pressed his hand onto the upper part of her chest and shoulder. “Oopps, sorry. I must have thought you were part of the wall.”
Her mouth was hanging open. He put his paint hand under her chin, “Careful, don’t want to get any paint in there.”
She wiped at her chin and smeared paint. “You’re wasting paint and time.” She primly turned away.
He stared. He was sure he would have gotten a rise out of her. No reaction other than a moralistic remark? He picked up the roller and began spreading more paint on the wall.
“Oh, Sean,” she said innocently. As he turned to look at her, she swiped a paint brush full of paint across his chest. She put her hand to her mouth that formed an o, “Oops.”
He flicked the paint roller and paint went into her hair and on her neck.
She retaliated with the paint brush. She stroked the brush full of paint across his chest. She turned back to the wall with a smile.
He grabbed her and she started to laugh as he lifted her off her feet. She screeched when it looked like he was going to put her feet in the paint pan. She wiggled and tried to get away, but he was strong and she didn’t try very hard. She had her head back on his shoulder and she was squirming. She put her hands on his arms. She was laughing too hard to get away.
“No, don’t make me stand in paint. My feet will be blue.”
“I think it’s too late, they are already blue.”
She was still laughing and wriggling. She kicked her feet as he started to put her down into the paint pan. “Sean, no.” She couldn’t stop giggling. She wrapped one of her legs around his to try to prevent him from setting her down.
Maggie walked in. She eyed them, “More paint on you two than the wall.” She grinned as Sean put Taylor down.
Taylor said, “Sorry.”
Maggie made an umhum sound and left. She had to report to Walter. She knew her plan would work. They just needed to paint together, alone.
Taylor and Sean started painting again. Taylor whispered, “You deserved it.”
Sean leaned over, started to put his lips on hers, but drew back quickly as Walter came in.
Walter laughed, “Maggie said there was more paint on you two than the wall. I just had to come see for myself.” He left.
Taylor flicked the almost empty roller at Sean and peppered his shirt with more paint blotches. “Oh no. Sorry. I thought it was empty.”
He made a grab for her but she got just out of reach. She flicked paint on his face and hair, “Stay back. I’m armed with a paint roller.”
“Oh, using a weapon on me? I will have to handcuff you now.”
“You don’t have any on you.” She looked down at his filled out jeans. Was it getting hot in here? “Besides you are a painter today, not a cop.” She grinned at him.
Sean grabbed her and pushed her back against the wet wall, “I’m sorry ma’am but I may have to frisk you for other weapons.”
“You wish.” She tried to sound fierce but she ended up laughing again.
“I think you’re going to have to redo this area.” He grinned at her.
She made an annoyed sound. She could feel the paint seeping through the shirt and sticking to her back. She glared, “Have you ever seen a woman on the edge?”
Sean looked at her with a mock look of horror and she burst out laughing.
“Is this an attempt to be scary?”
“No, if I were trying to be scary, you would be afraid.”
“If you say so.”
She started her area over but it wasn’t coming out so well. “Sean, I’m making a mess.”
He came over and took her hand with the roller and rolled it in the pan. “You need more paint on the roller.” He guided her hand up the wall, “See?”
She nodded but said nothing. He looked at her arms. The goose bumps were back.
They finally got two of the four walls painted. The paint was drying and sticking to her back. She tried pulling the stiff material away from her skin, but it went right back.
She dipped a hand into the paint and smeared his cheek and neck. “That’s for making my back sticky with paint.”
He laughed, “Looks like you need a little more.”
He threw more paint on her and she started to laugh. It was in her hair, on her face, her clothes. He was a mess too. They went back to painting the wall instead of each other. They finally finished the third wall.
“One more to go,” she smirked as she eyed him covered with paint. “Blue must be your color. It looks good on you.” She giggled, “or should I say all over you?”
The tarp they were standing on was smeared with wet and drying paint. She tried to back away as he came at her with a brush. “Sean, stay back. Don’t make me have to hurt you.” She laughed and put her hands out to stop him from advancing.
Instead of using the brush, he reached over and pulled her to him.
“You smell like paint. Usually you smell like fresh spring rain.” She blushed when she realized what she had just told him.
His eyes got darker. His lips had just touched hers when Maggie called out, “Anyone need some water?”
Sean stepped back as she walked in and eyed them. “Thirsty?” She looked at them covered in paint. “Well, at least some of it is on the walls.” She grinned at them, “Here are a couple of bottles of water for you. I’ll just set them here.” She put them on the floor and left.
He stared at her and asked softly, “I smell like paint?”
She blushed. She realized how it must sound, her smelling him. She did not respond and he said nothing.
He saw her blush and smiled.
Taylor just said, “Maggie wasn’t covered with paint.”
“She’s not as good at painting as we are.” That made her laugh.
Sean retrieved the bottles. “Do you want to sit for a minute?”
Taylor looked around and found a fairly paint free area away from where they were painting and sat. It felt good to sit. Her legs were getting tired.
Sean sat down in front of her and they drank some water. After a few minutes, he asked her if she was ready and she nodded yes. He stepped behind her and lifted her to her feet with his arms around her waist. She shivered when he put his nose in her hair and murmured, “You smell like honeysuckle and paint.”
He dropped his arms and they went back to painting. They finally finished and Sean put the paint brush down. He looked at her and laughed.
“Yeah? You don’t look any better, mister.” She pushed some stray hairs back and then realized she had just put more paint in her hair and probably on her face.
She walked towards him. The paint on the floor was wet and slippery and the tarp shifted under her bare, wet blue feet. She fell into him and they both fell to the floor. She stared into his eyes as she lay sprawled on him. He stared back.
She was sure all the air in the room had just been sucked out. Sean grinned, “If you wanted me down on the floor, all you had to do was ask.”
She flushed and scrambled off him.
“If I had wanted you on the floor, I would have taken you down, mister.”
He raised an eyebrow at her, “That sounds interesting. And in case you didn’t notice, you already did.”
She rolled her eyes at him and he laughed. He got up, but as was he lifting her up, he lost his balance on the slippery tarp and they fell again. This time she laughed so hard she had tears in her eyes.<
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“Okay,” he was laughing too. “Let’s try this again.”
He carefully got them up and held onto her to make sure she was not going to slip and fall again. They stared at each other. The air was charged with voltages of energy and tension. He stepped back. He wanted to take her down on the paint smeared tarp, kiss her until she was crazy, and then make love to her. He needed to back off to gain some control on his thoughts and his body.
They went to find Maggie and Walter. They both laughed when they saw the two of them covered in paint.
Maggie gave them a couple of old sheets to put over the car seats to sit on.
She looked Taylor over, “I’d hug you, but…”
Taylor laughed, “That’s okay.”
“Thanks for helping out today, honey. I’ll see you later.”
As soon as she got home, she showered and was finally able to get all the paint off. She went downstairs and started making a dill sauce for her orange roughy in the oven.
Sean came in and pulled on her hair, “Still have some paint in your hair, unless you were going for a blue color.” He pulled on her hair gently and got the paint out. “Better.” He then put his finger in the sauce, “Umm, that’s good.”
“I don’t make fish very often. I really don’t like seafood much, but I do like this fish. It doesn’t taste fishy. I didn’t ask if you like fish.”
“I do.” He stuck his finger in the sauce again. She rolled her eyes at him, then she took a spoon and put a dab of sauce in her hand and smeared it on his lips. Grinning, she said, “Enjoy the sauce.”
He finally got to do what he had tried to do all day, he put his hands in her hair and pulled her towards him and softly kissed her. She could taste the dill sauce on his lips. “Did you like it?”
She was still in a daze from the electrifying but gentle kiss, “What?”
“The dill sauce, did you like it?”
She blushed, grabbed a paper towel and wiped her face. Then she looked back to the stove. He washed his face off and helped her finish dinner after calling a truce.
Twenty-nine
Maggie called her the next morning. “Can you go with me to the mall? I need to get some curtain rods. Buddy pulled down the curtains when we were out painting and bent the rods. I should have put him out but he was so comfortable in his bed, I didn’t have the heart to do it.”
They headed to the mall. Taylor couldn’t help herself as she glanced into the restaurant she and Sean had gone to. She did not see the waitress. Not that she was likely to see her from out here. She still felt a little guilty about what she had said, but Sean had seemed fine with it.
As they passed a lingerie store, Maggie stopped and pointed out a skimpy, sexy red lace bra and matching panties. “You never know when you might need them.” She winked.
Taylor said sassily, “I already have a pair of electric blue and it’s very comfortable and no one is going to see it but me.” Oops, someone already had, she thought. Sean. But she wasn’t going to talk about that.
“We can still go in there. I’m sure you can find something.”
“Don’t need anything from there, thanks.”
Maggie grinned.
“Why don’t you go in there and get something for Walter?”
Maggie laughed, “Nothing in there would fit Walter.”
Taylor rolled her eyes at her and Maggie gave her a quick shoulder squeeze.
They went into a clothing store and Taylor bought a new coral cotton shirt and light green t-shirt on sale. Maggie nodded her approval, “You can’t beat that price.” Maggie bought a different shirt and they left with their purchases.
They stopped and got lunch in the food court. Taylor listened as Maggie told her about when she had first met Walter.
“Yep, he was a brand new vet and I had a dog named Rocky and I thought he was so cute. Walter, not Rocky, but Rocky was cute too. Anyways, I made another appointment for Rocky for some silly reason and he didn’t say anything. He was all professional. So I went back a couple of weeks later. Rocky had a tiny cut on his paw. He gave me some medicine and then we left. I was about to give up but we ran into each other in line at a restaurant and we sat together and started talking and that was it.”
“How long have you two been married?”
“Twenty-nine years. Next August will be thirty.”
Taylor told her about her grandmother meeting granddad.
Maggie gave her a wink, “Sounds like you need to get working on Sean. I know he is really into you.”
Taylor looked down at her empty plate. “How do you know that?”
“Taylor, think about it. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”
What? Sure Sean had kissed her, but not often and not passionately. They were comfortable, like they had known each other a long time. Were they just friends? Sean was definitely her best friend now. Was she more than a friend to him? Was she hoping for too much? Probably, love wasn’t likely to find her.
Maggie laughed at her, “Honey, you’re thinking too much. Go with your heart.”
Did Taylor dare trust her heart? And what exactly was her heart telling her? She could not decide. Was she afraid to trust her heart? Or afraid her heart would be broken? Was she really falling for Sean? Or was she just grateful?
Thirty
After they left the mall, it began to pour down rain. Maggie stopped at a florist and ordered some flowers for delivery to the clinic. She told Taylor she did that once a month. It was her contribution to Walter’s office. They usually put them behind the front desk for the clients and employees to enjoy.
Taylor loved flowers and went around as Maggie put her order in to look at the beautiful variety of colors and types. She smelled some of them and found there were several with a wonderful scent.
Maggie came over. “I love flowers.”
“Me too.”
Maggie smiled inside, she’d have to get that tidbit to Sean.
When they were driving back to Sean’s, Taylor looked over at Maggie, “Do you really think he likes me?”
Maggie laughed, “That much is obvious. Don’t make it harder than it is. Like I said, he’s really into you and if you listened to what I said you should be able to figure that out. I don’t think I have ever seen him that with any other woman.”
“You know him better than I do.”
“I doubt that. I bet you can tell things about him that I do not know nor does anyone else.”
Taylor thought about that. She was right. Sean was a private person to most people. She suspected that she knew a lot more about Sean than others did. Even Maggie and Walter who had known him for four years.
Her thoughts were interrupted as they rounded a bend in the road. A dark green minivan coming towards them swerved to avoid a raccoon in the road, lost control on the slick, wet road, and rolled four times before ending up in the ditch. Maggie stopped and they both sat there in shock for a moment. It had happened so fast. Without thinking about it, Taylor got out of the car.
She could hear children screaming inside the twisted, mangled vehicle. Taylor called to Maggie, “Call 911,” as she went to the vehicle.
Maggie joined her, “I’ll check the front passengers.” Taylor nodded.
Taylor made her way around the car, looking for a way in. All she could find was a very small opening through the broken back passenger side window that had been crushed smaller during the rolls. The other side was pressed down on the incline of the ditch and completely inaccessible.
The children were pitifully screaming and crying. “Help. Mommy. Help. Mommy.”
Taylor took her jacket off. Sizing up the opening, she decided if she squeezed, she could make it in. It was going to be tight but she was sure she could do it. The kids needed help now not when rescue got here. Her heart went out to the small crying voices. There was broken glass everywhere so she laid her jacket on the opening to avoid getting cut. She hoped there was no gas leaking.
Maggie came around and told her t
he front seat occupants, a man and woman, were unconscious and hurt but help was on the way. When she saw what Taylor intended to do she said, “Taylor, honey, are you sure? You don’t know what it’s like in there and you might not fit.”
“They need help, Maggie. I can’t stand here and do nothing. They are terrified.” Taylor gave no thought to the fact that her legs might not be strong enough to get her out once she got in.
Maggie nodded her understanding, “Be careful.”
“Can you give me a boost?”
Maggie took her folded leg and gave her a leg up into the window.
Maggie called out, “Careful.”
Taylor had to twist and hold her breath to crawl through the small opening. She made some small grunts as she pushed, pulled and twisted. She got stuck and had to keep herself from panicking since she was only part way in. She had to get in now. She could not back out. She struggled and squirmed and was finally able to get in.
She regretted it almost immediately. It was very crushed down and the children were sprawled all over the seat. The jagged edges of metal surrounded her. There was a strong odor of blood and urine. She felt like she was in a coffin, buried underground. The twisted sides closed in around her. She had to worry about getting cut. The floor sloped downwards. Concentrate on the kids.
She looked at the children. There were three of them. One boy and two little girls. They looked so small and helpless. She shook off her own fears when the children quieted as she smiled at them.
“Hey there guys. My name is Taylor.” She looked at a boy with a mop of curly brown hair around six and asked him his name.
“Matt.”
“Hi, Matt. Help is coming and we’ll get you out of here, okay?”
She heard sirens in the distance; relief washed over her. She took a good look at him and saw that he had a compound fracture of his right arm, some lacerations, and a big bump on his forehead. It looked awful. She wasn’t squeamish at the sight of a little blood, but the bone sticking out and the amount of blood were hard to cope with. Her stomach churned. She felt like she might lose her lunch.
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