Nothing Super [COMPLETED]

Chapter 19 - "What is this really about?"

"Still I have no right to ask anything of you. You could be hurt, injured and part of that would be on me because I asked you."

Taylor remained quiet. Everything her brother was saying made sense. It even had a ring of truth to it, but she was not the issue. Somehow she knew that.

"This isn't about me," she said. "You've had months of seeing me able to handle myself. What is this really about?"

Weston gave a low, humorless chuckle and ducked his head.

"I didn't know you knew me so well."

Taylor didn't speak. Though her lack of response opened the air for him to fill it with his own words, he didn't. Taylor could only see his back, but it was enough to notice there was a stiffness to his posture.

"I once told you, you could tell me anything," Taylor said softly. "That still holds true."

Weston dropped his shoulders and let out a breath. Taylor waited, sensing as he worked his way up to sharing. Minutes stretched on without anything said, but she remained quiet.

"That man," Weston said, pointing to a photo showcasing a man in his mid-thirties with a scar on his right eyebrow and pale gray eyes. "His brother is the reason my aunt is dead."

The news was like a blow to Taylor's stomach. She reached out and gripped a filing cabinet, needing to steady herself.

"Four years ago," Weston went on, unaware of Taylor's reaction. "My aunt was attacked. He took her purse and left her bleeding out. She made it to the hospital, even remained conscious long enough to describe the guy." He stopped, his silence burdened with memories wrapped in grief. "We got him, but lost her."

Taylor blinked, not realizing she was crying until the action sent tears spilling down her cheeks. She had only been thirteen when the news of her aunt's death had come. It had felt like someone had ripped out her insides, leaving her empty.

"Her name was Eda," Weston said. He laced his fingers and placed them on top of his head. "She is one of the reasons I became a cop."

Taylor swiped at her cheeks, momentarily distracted from her own hit of grief. This was something she hadn't ever known.

"Growing up she would talk about how important it was to help people. Help and happiness. Those were two things she believed every human should be given." He let out a breath of a laugh. "It's why she did charity work with our church and was a baby photographer. She said baby photography captured the essence of happiness and preserved it for parents who had seen enough of the world to need more happiness."

Taylor smiled, despite the ache in her chest. She could picture her aunt's caramel eyes lighting up as she showed them the best of her work, laughing at a boy's dimples or a girl's wide grin. Taylor wasn't sure there was a person on earth who had laughed and smiled more than her aunt.

A sober silence invaded the office as Weston dropped his hands.

"She was the kind of person who had a faith in God so strong she could face cancer head-on and come through smiling. And in the end, it wasn't a disease that stole her, but another life that stole hers."

Taylor was standing beside Weston before she even knew she was there, their shared pain pulling her forward. She rested her hand on his arm and he looked down at it as if realizing he hadn't been talking to himself.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss," she whispered.

Weston stared straight ahead and nodded. Taylor knew he was struggling to keep his emotions in check. If it had only been his sister there then he wouldn't have worked so hard, but instead, he was only with a shadow.