it in front of him. Nelson took a quick drink and went back to the food.
“So, did I get that right,” Nelson asked, “the trial thing is over? We don’t have to worry about it anymore?”
“Nope,” she said as her gaze fell to her glass, and Greg either wanted to pummel his friend or disappear. “We’re done with that.”
Nelson nodded as he looked at her, and Taylor smiled at him. “That’s good,” he said. “I know Paige was relieved.”
“Yeah, me too,” Taylor said as her gaze fell from him.
He scraped the last of the food up and ate it like it had never been there. Downing the rest of his water, he set the glass next to the empty plate. “Well, that was great, but I’ve got to bounce. I’m going to be so late.” Standing, he reached for his plate.
“Don’t worry about it,” Taylor said, stopping him with an outstretched hand that almost brushed his. Her eyes were liquid as she gazed up at him standing there. “I’ve got it. You go on.”
Nelson smiled at her and nodded. “Cool. You’re the best, Tay.” And just like that, he evaporated from the dining area, sweeping his things up, and heading to the back making enough noise to wake the dead.
Taylor stood and started picking up the dishes and pans slowly. “You know, this is probably none of my business, but you guys really do need some groceries.”
“I know,” Greg said, his heart playing pinball with all the disparate messages flying around him. “I keep thinking I need to get some, but it’s like there’s always more to do than hours in the day.” He was so tired, all he could think about was the missed sleep from Saturday and how he would ever keep going this semester.
“Tell you what,” she said. “We’ve made some headway on the certification thing.”
“See ya,” Nelson said, going to and through the outside door.
“Drive careful!” she called.
“Will do.” And he was gone.
Greg put his head down because his heart hurt so bad. Maybe that was part of why he was so exhausted, it was taking gobs of energy not to hear what his own heart was saying about all of it—the lilt in her voice when she talked to Nelson was like a thousand knives digging into him.
“Why don’t you go get that second study guide ordered and we’ll call it good on that for tonight? We can run get some groceries, and you can take me back. Kill two birds with one stone and all of that.”
When Greg picked up his gaze and found her moving in the kitchen, it was so much like the old Taylor that his heart jabbed hard and painful. “I… Uh… Okay. But you don’t have to…”
She turned and plopped her hand on her hip, looking all cute and perfect. “You know better than to argue with me. Now go get that study guide ordered.”
He dragged himself up and away from the table.
“Oh, and check on your test results, too. Don’t want to forget that.”
It was over an hour later when Greg let her off at her dorms, asking what the plan was if Hannah was being Hannah again.
“There’s always the lounge,” Taylor said. “That couch isn’t too awful bad.”
“Tay…” Greg said, but she just smiled.
“Don’t worry. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” She whipsawed across the console and kissed his cheek. “Now get home. I’ll see you in the morning, and don’t be late.”
The way he felt, he might sleep through everything for a month. He watched as she got out and walked in, and he noted without realizing it how much lighter she looked. Grateful for that small miracle, he’d just put the car in reverse to back out when he heard the ding of a notification on his phone. That was odd. It wasn’t a text. Throwing it back into park, he pulled out his phone, and his heart fell into his shoes. The test results.
“Well, here goes nothing,” he said to the empty car as he opened the message.
…hereby granted temporary certification… 78
78! He had passed, not with flying colors, but still, he had passed.
However, in the next breath his heart fell again. But it was too late. The applications were already closed.
Still, he was proud enough of the passing score that he had to tell somebody. He hit the two speed dial buttons and listened to it ring, trying to tamp down his excitement and knowing she was going to