After the dark of sadness comes the glory of happiness!

Safe haven!

Both Susan and Rosa kept quiet and didn't tell anyone what Taylor and Ridge confessed. Susan still had Taylor's threat in her ears. She knew Taylor. She would be very disappointed, if she told anyone about the conversation. Not wanting to jeopardize her friendship with Taylor, she preferred to keep her mouth shut. Rosa also kept her information to herself; she was a person who did not like to interfere in other people's lives. Besides, she was convinced that Ridge and Taylor would find their way to each other anyway.

Even if Susan and Rosa didn't tell anyone, Taylor and Ridge's feelings were more than obvious to everyone in the clique. Secretly they were all really just waiting for the news that it had finally happened. Ridge and Taylor, however, were both still very careful not to reveal their true feelings in front of each other. Each of them, for their own personal reasons, had too much respect for making the decisive move. Everyone shook their heads in amusement when they saw the dance they were doing around each other, each trying to draw the other out.

Taylor tried to attract Ridge's attention by wearing jewelry or clothes he had given her, which she had avoided until now. In addition, when they went out for dinner, she was always dressed to the teeth. She started to wear the perfume she had used in their marriage. She invited him to her place for dinner more often and cooked all his favorite dishes. She purposely prepared more so that she could give him a portion to take home. If they were on the tennis court together, she deliberately played dumb, claiming she was out of practice. Stacy, Rosa and Susan giggled. Taylor was using every trick in the book to get close to Ridge and it was working. Ridge was all too happy to play her coach.

He himself was not idle and gave her even more attention than before. Regularly he sent her flowers with dear little sayings. He was just always careful not to send red roses, that would have been too obvious. When he brought her home, he accompanied her to her apartment door. In the past, he had only let her get out of the car outside the house. On outings and activities he paid for her and was pleased when she didn't protest. Not long ago, she had made a point of paying for everything herself. When she visited him at the boutique, he liked to pretend he was all tense from work, hoping she would massage his shoulder as she used to. He accompanied her to a party at the orphanage. For one thing, he was curious to see her in 'action', because she talks a lot about her volunteer work. On the other hand, he wanted to show her that her interests were as important to him as his own.

One day, they all agreed to meet at Stacy's house. Stacy was a longtime work colleague and friend of Susan's. Stacy had recently moved to a larger apartment and for today they had all promised her to help her move. Susan rang Taylor's doorbell to pick her up and was more than startled when her friend finally appeared at the door. Taylor looked terrible, her nose all red and swollen, her eyes small and shiny with fever. She was shaking all over.
"Oh dear, you've caught a cold, if it isn't a flu. Off to bed now!" She helped Taylor, who was dizzy, to get into the bedroom. Susan immediately wanted to cancel her help with the move and stay with her. But Taylor said that was out of the question. It was bad luck enough that she would be out.
"You can go ahead. Stacy needs every hand, and I'm not a baby anymore.
"Are you sure? I hate to leave you alone."
"Now get out of here. I want to sleep anyway, I can do that by myself."

Reluctantly, Susan left Taylor alone. Ridge immediately asked where Taylor was when she showed up alone. Ridge was deeply concerned when he heard she was sick. He reached for his phone to call her, but she did not pick up. Susan said she was probably asleep. Ridge's worries increased.
"I'm going over there and see how she's doing."
"Don't you think that's a little over the top? It's just a cold, besides Taylor is a doctor, she'll know what to do," Marc interjected.
"What does that have to do with it? If you were sick and feverish, would you like it to be lonely and abandoned in your bed?" Ridge grabbed his jacket and was gone. Everyone looked after him half amused, half admiring. His infatuation was all too apparent, but they actually liked that he wanted to take care of her.