Ellie's POV
I change the sheets on Luke's bed, and get him fresh blankets.
"Thanks, Ellie," he says sadly.
We get down to the kitchen and I hand him a beer. He sits at the island and starts to drink it. Taylor ignores him from where he's sitting at the island.
"Have you tried to talk to her yet?" I ask after a minute of silence.
He nods. "Yeah. She won't even open the door. I'm not using my key. I'm not going to force myself on her. I'll go over first thing in the morning and try again. I might be here for awhile."
Then he looks at Taylor. "We going to be able to work together tomorrow, or do I need to take furlough?"
Taylor glares at him. "I've always kept professional and personal separate," he spits.
Wes nods. "I'm sorry, Taylor."
Taylor says nothing.
Wes looks at him hard. "I know I messed up. What can I do?"
"Nothing," Taylor says as he gets up and goes upstairs.
Wes closes his eyes and shakes his head.
When he looks at me, he has unshed tears in his eyes.
"Did I seriously just lose my best friend and wife all in one day?" He asks, trying desperately not to cry.
I grab his hand and stare at him until he looks at me.
"No. Taylor will get over this. You guys are stronger than that."
"And Megan?" He sniffs, quickly wiping away a single tear that falls.
"That might take a little longer. I need to know what exactly was said to Katie. Normally this wouldn't be my business, but at this point, I'm the only one who is still talking to you," I say sternly.
He sniffs and nods. "It was just today. I only sat down and talked to her today. I was furious about our fight this morning. I was regretting telling him we weren't friends anymore, but I was too mad to apologize."
"Katie had heard the fight. She took advantage of the fact that I was so mad, and said that there was no reason for you guys not to trust me. That I was a man of integrity, and she would never try to break up a marriage."
"And you believed her?" I scoff. Wes is not a stupid man.
Wes rolls his eyes. "No. But it was nice to have someone on my side. Megan has had an attitude for weeks about me working with her. It was making me mad that she didn't trust me."
"It was never about not trusting you. It was about not trusting Katie."
He shakes his head. "That money was going to pay for Trace's school for next year. I was so focused on that."
"So what did you say, Wes?"
"I did say that I hate how passive she is. I said that it gets exhausting always feeling like I have to walk on eggshells so I don't overtake her. I never said that I wanted her to be like you. I just said that it would be easier if her personality would be a little stronger like yours."
I chuckle. "Wes, if you and I would have married, we would be divorced by now. I NEVER would have put up with your fits of anger, and you NEVER would have put up with me not putting up with you. You needed someone like Megan. Megan needed someone like you. You balance each other out."
"I know we do. I didn't mean it the way it sounded," he says, shaking his head.
"What else?" I ask after a minute.
"She said I was a good dad. She said she used to love watching Trace and I playing Basketball over here and me goofing off with him. I just said that I've been having a hard time with Trace being gone more. He's hardly ever home. Izzy isn't much either. I said that I wished we would have had more kids. She asked why we didn't, and I said it was because Trace was such a hard baby, and then Izzy had colic for 6 months. I said that it was hard on Megan. I didn't mean that she couldn't handle it. Katie twisted everything around."
"That's what she does. That's why we said not to take that job."
Wes nods and finishes up his beer. I get another one out of the fridge.
"Is that it?"
He opens his new beer and nods. "Yeah. I told her I needed to get back to work, and I worked until Megan showed up like a damn banshee."
"I'm proud of her for that," I say, taking his beer away from him and taking a sip of it myself. I don't know why I did that. The taste is vile. I crinkle my nose and hand it back to him.
"Yeah. Under different circumstances, that would have been hot," he says, smirking a little.
"You really messed up, my friend."
He nods. "Yup," he says as he kisses my head and takes the beer with him to Luke's room. I don't see him in the morning.
"Be safe, Chief," I say, kissing Taylor gently.
"We're all coming home, darling," he says, kissing me back.
"Have his back," I say sternly.
"Who?"
"Wes. Have his back."
He just gives me a look as he leaves silently. That evening I go to Megan's. Josie comes with me and hangs out with Izzy all night. Megan is a mess.
I do what I can to help, but this is a bad one. Right now, she is truly considering leaving him. She even talked to a divorce lawyer today and had papers drawn up.
"Meg, don't do this. Don't throw your life away over this. He didn't cheat on you. He was venting to the wrong person, and she twisted it around. Don't let her take Wes from you."
"Wes took Wes away from me," she snaps.
Trace walks in then, and his eyes get wide.
"You're going to divorce him?!?"
Megan just gives him a look.
"Mom, come on. He messed up."
"Go on, Trace," she says darkly.
"How could you do this? How could you ruin this family?!?!"
"I SAID GO!" She screams.
He flinches. I don't think she has ever yelled at him like that before.
"I will never forgive you for this," he says darkly as he leaves and goes to our house.
Megan puts her head in her hands and sobs.
The next day when the guys get home from work, they aren't talking. It's very obvious that they haven't worked anything out. Taylor sees me and hugs me tight. Wes just silently stands there.
"Want me to leave for the day?"
Taylor looks at him. "Do whatever you want. That's what you do best," he snaps as he goes upstairs to take a shower.
Wes sighs. "How is she?"
"I'm going to be completely honest with you. It's not good. She's talked to a lawyer already."
"What?!?" He chokes.
"This is really bad."
"Ellie, I can't lose her," he says, his voice cracking as he puts his hands on his knees and puts his head down.
"Then quit standing here and start trying. Use the key if you have to."
He straightens his back and nods. "Wish me luck."
I shake my head as I watch him walk out. Luck is NOT going to help this man.
When I get home from work, the tension is thick. You can just feel the silence in the air. Wes and Taylor are watching TV, neither of them saying anything. Josie looks at me. "Can I go to Izzy's?" She whispers.
"Why don't you go to Mason's. Your birthday is tomorrow anyways and he wanted you to stay over."
"I don't want to. Please?"
I sigh and nod.
When I go in the living room, Taylor smiles at me. "There she is," he says, snuggling me close when I sit down.
"How was your day?" I ask, kissing his cheek.
He just shrugs and grabs my hand, holding it tight.
"How did it go, Wes?"
He looks at me and shakes his head. "As soon as she saw me she went into the bedroom and locked the door. I tried talking through the door but she just turned up the TV. She did tell me that I will be getting papers in a week or so."
"This doesn't mean it's over."
He lets out a disgusted noise. "It's all over," he snaps. "He won't even look at me. We've sat in horribly shitty silence all day. She won't talk to me. IT'S ALL OVER," he screams as he goes to Luke's room and slams the door.
Taylor closes his eyes and shakes his head. After a minute, tears are falling from his eyes.
"You need to talk to him," I whisper.
"No, I don't. I tried. If that wouldn't have happened, he wouldn't have changed his mind. I was the bad friend who wouldn't mind my own business. Well, I'm out."
"Taylor..."
"I mean it, Ellie. Whether he fixes it with Megan or not is irrelevant. He and I are done. The only reason I'm allowing him to stay here is because we have a history. Once he's on his feet again, then that's it. I'm his Chief, and that's it."
"You don't mean that," I say, shaking my head.
"Ellie, I have never meant anything more in my entire life."