Love Today (7 page)

Zack arrived right on time, and even though I was so happy to see him, and so happy to kiss him again, I had to tell him that I couldn’t leave yet.

“She always does this,” I grumbled quietly, so Maggie couldn’t hear. “I should have warned you but…”

“It’s okay,” he shrugged. “We can hang out until she gets here. What’d she say?”

“I had to leave a message, which means she hasn’t even left the office yet.
Based on her history, we’ll be waiting for an hour or two.
”

He only nodded, but his attention was drawn to Maggie when she sat down at the coffee table with her crayons and a coloring book.

“Hey Maggie, I’m thinking we should go
get pizza and then go
to th
e movie theatre
to
see a movie,” he said.
“
What do you think?”

Her eyes lit up and she said, “
Rapunzel
?”

Zack made his excitement match hers and said, “Sure! Sounds fantastic.”

So
Rapunzel
it was, and even though neither of us cared about watching
that particular movie
, Maggie was pretty thrilled.
I could tell that Zack was
just as happy about making her night as I was, and that made me feel good. And it was a lot more fun having him there with us.

Rachel
’s car was in the garage
when we got
home
. I had texted her when we got to the theatre to let her know where we were, and halfway through the movie she texted back:
that’s fine; I’ll probably be asleep when you guys get back
.

Ugh, she made me so furious. It was like she was doing me some kind of favor by
allowing
me to come home late.

I put Maggie to bed while Zack waited on the couch for me. I hated feeling so torn when I spent so much time with my niece. I loved doing it, but I was so mad at my sister for not fulfilling her role as a parent. I didn’t realize that I was going to be such a major part of Maggie’s life
when I moved from California, b
ut once I saw that she was with a babysitter for more than
ten hours a day
, I just couldn’t let that happen. Bethany knew Maggie better than
Rachel
did, and that made me really mad.

Zack didn’t say anything when I joined him in the family room. I think he was trying to read my mood first, and since I didn’t want my evening with him
to go to waste
, I didn’t dwell on my frustrations over my sister.

We started kissing as soon as I was next to him, and that was therapy enough for me. Gradually we stretched out on the couch together, and I enjoyed lying there with him in a dark room. We talked a
lot
, kissed a lot, and I was very comfortable in his arms. I guess
I was a little too comfortable
because
when I woke to something touching my face
, Maggie was smiling at me, and
Rachel
was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest.

Chapter Seven

“Oh,” I think I said.

I moved slightly, and then I felt Zack wake up behind me.
E
ven though I only glanced at him, I knew he was
concerned
when he saw my sister and niece
staring at us
at six in the morning
.
The last time I’d looked at the clock, it was almost three a.m.

“Were you sleeping?” Maggie asked me.

“Yes,” I replied, playfully scowling at the ribbon she must have touched
my face
with.

“With
Zack
?” she giggled. The way she said it made me smile, but even though she was only four and was giggling for other reasons
(boy germs)
,
Rachel
’s disapproving scowl
was annoying
.

“I’d better get going,” Zack said, standing up from the couch. I stood up with him and he kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll call you later.” He tugged on a piece of Maggie’s
dark
hair and said, “See ya,
Rapunzel
.”

That made Maggie laugh, and it was enough to make
Rachel
mind her own business and finish getting ready for work. I followed Zack to the door and waved when he left, and then after almost
knocking
Maggie over because she was trying to watch him leave
from behind me
, I scooped her up and dropped her on the living room couch.

“NO!” she squealed when I tickled her.

“That’s for tickling me on the
face
and waking me up.”

She laughed some more and then said, “I tickled Zack and he didn’t wake up.”

“You did?” I chuckled.

She nodded, like it was the sneakiest thing she ever got away with.

“Well we’ll have to do it again some other time,” I sai
d quietly, pretending to share the
secret.

“Okay,” she whispered with a huge smile.

Later that afternoon I got a phone call I wasn’t expecting. Maggie and I were making paper bag puppets when the caller said he was
Jared
Miller
.

Who?

“I met you at the—”

“Oh yeah,” I remembered, before he could finish. “
John’s son
. Um, what can I do for you?”

Why he’d be calling was a mystery to me. I
had
thought of him a couple of times, just because he’d been so nice to me and of course, had the most gorgeous eyes I’d ever seen. But there wasn’t a casual way to bring his name up to my sister, so I completely bagged my curiosity about him.

“
I hope it’s okay to call you,” he said.

For some reason his voice spoke to a corner of me that wasn’t normally so stirred. His voice was deep, but not too deep, but it had a measure of smooth calmness to it that intrigued me.
Of course
,
I was intere
sted in his reason for calling;
maybe that’s why I was so hyperaware of his speaking manner.

I realized I hadn’t replied when he slightly cleared his throat. “Uh,
I helped myself to one of your business cards y
ou had at the lunch thingy. Was that okay?”

I swallowed, just so I could find my own voice. “Oh. Uh, of course.” After all, I do set my cards out for the taking. I couldn’t exactly pick and choose who took them. I felt fortunate
because of
this particular recipient, though.

“Uh, a
nyways,
I have a job offer for you. It’s kind of last minute though, but if you can head to the Showbox tonight, there are
two
bands that need shoots done
for the same venue poster
. I recommended you, so I h
ope it’s something you can do.”

A photo shoot?
That sounded intriguing.
“Tonight? Uh…
” I thought about it. Okay, I thought about it for two seconds and answered,
“
Yeah, I think that works okay. What time?”

He paused. But I thought I heard humor in his voice when he asked,
“Aren’t you going to
inquire
who
the bands are? Or
what the pay is? I mean usually that’s the first thing people want to know.”

I smiled and said, “Well
I
’m assuming
the pay
will
be fair since you’re personally involved somehow.
I
must
have a lot of faith in you.
And I don’t really care who they are as long as you trust them to be cooperative. I rea
lly don’t want to lay the smack
down on anyone, punk ass musicians or otherwise.
”

That amused him
and he chuckled.
I could tell I said the right thing. But I wasn’t expecting the amount of money it was actually going to be, and when we confirmed a time and some other details, I was stunned that I got such an amazing offer.
I was excited, and I looked forward to doing something different.

I did have plans with Zack that night, but
he understood and insisted that I take the job.
I actually invited him along, being that I wasn’t willing to be in downtown Seattle late at night by myself. He agreed to my professional terms and became my assistant, even helping me haul my equipment, which was nice.

I kind of hoped that Jared would be there too, but he’d informed me over the phone that he regrettably wasn’t able to be. He even said that we’d have to get together another time, but I was smart to avoid that conversation. But I guess it was better that way since Zack was with me, and knowing myself, I was grateful I wouldn’t have another set of eyes to make me nervous while I worked.

We got back to Everett around midnight, and since Zack drove, he dropped me off at my house. We made out for
a few minutes before I went in
, and then
I got
a really sweet
kiss goodnight
from him.

I was pleased with my relationship with Zack. We’d become really great friends and he was an amazing kisser. Being with him was comfortable and pressure free.

Three days later I got another call from
Jared
.

“You are amazing, Taryn.
This poster
turned out incredible.”

I was
delighted
by how
impressed he genuinely sounded.

“Did
it
? That’s great.”

“You haven’t seen
it
?”

“Well, no. But I saw
my
pictures
,
of course. Those were pretty
damn
good.”

He lightly laughed. “Yes they were, and they made the posters turn out pretty
damn
awesome
. You should come down and see the show in a few weeks.”

I paused. Was that just a general invite, like a bonus perk or something? Or was he asking me out? I tried to be casual when I replied,
“Uh, maybe.”

“Well you
at least need to see the poster
.
I have one just for you if I can bring it by.
”

“Uh, to my house?”

“Sure, if
that’s
okay. Or you can meet me somewhere. Or I guess I can drop it off with your sister at work and she can give it to you. That’s probably the easiest for you, right?”

I thought about it for a moment before I said, “Here is fine. I’m just working on my website
, so I’ll be here for the day
.”

So I gave him
the
address and went back to work.
It was much easier than having
my sister involved in any way. But then I wondered if he actually
knew
that. Was he really just trying to see me? I felt a little flattered, but if it wasn’t the case, I should probably learn a lesson in humility.

I kind of thought he’d be by shortly after that, so by the time I was starting dinner for Maggie around five, I’d forgotten all about it. I was expecting the knock at the door to be Zack, not the rugged-lo
oking guy that was once a clean-
shaven, suit-
wearing
“
businessman.
”

I think I stood there for a few seconds, trying to register the difference.
Jared
Miller
kind of looked like
he had an edgy side to him
.
His hair was a bit messy—that perfected
roused
style—and his clothes reminded me of the look my little brother always sported.
Even down to the wallet chain.

“Uh, is this a bad time?” he asked, sensing my confusion. He held
up
the
eighteen by twenty-four inch
venue poster and
said,
“You
told me
I could drop this off, right? I mean you gave me an address and—”

“Yes, it’s fine,” I inte
rrupted, remembering my manners.
“Come on in.”

He gave me a quirky smile and handed me the poster. “Had it signed for you,” he
said
as he stepped into the house
. “Don’t know if that interests you or not, but some people
like
it.”