Love Today

  Love Today

  By Delia Delaney

  “Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart, and the senses.” --Lao Tzu

  Copyright © 2012 by Delia Delaney

  The characters and events portrayed in this work are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Chapter One

  “Why do parents put themselves through this crap?” Lexi murmured to me.

  I smiled and was ready with a witty response, but there were a couple of moms next to me that just may have heard my friend’s comment.

  “Yay, let’s go Maggie!” I cheered as she jogged along the field in front of us. She smiled and waved at me just as the ball came her way. “Ooh, pay attention, honey,” I cringed. The ball went right past her and she almost collided with another kid.

  Lexi was picking at a hangnail when she said, “You know you come to these things more than your sister does, right?”

  I gave her a frowning side-glance. “Is that supposed to be a rhetorical question?”

  Obviously Lexi was bored, but I was still thankful that she would bide her time with me. I didn’t know too many people in Washington, but Lexi had befriended me instantly. She was my sister’s hairdresser, and the first time I went to Lexi for a trim, she invited me to hang out with her sometime.

  She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Well why can’t you start charging money for babysitting?”

  “It’s kind of a trade for rent.”

  “Hmm,” was all she replied.

  It was the end of September, youth soccer season, and I’d been to every Ladybug’s game so far. Four-year-olds were so funny to watch, and especially Maggie because she was kind of spacey and had no clue what she was doing. But my sister had only been to one of her daughter’s games; the other days I’d get the expected plea of, “Taryn, can you please, please, please take Maggie to her game today? I can’t because…” And then I’d hear some lame excuse as to why she couldn’t be there.

  “Who’s the hot dad across the field?” Lexi asked all of a sudden.

  I glanced across the game to where she was looking. I figured she was talking about the guy in the navy blue sweatshirt since he was the only one I spotted that was good-looking. He had dark hair, was fairly tall, and seemed to have a casual air to him.

  I shrugged and replied, “I don’t know. Why? You moving on to married guys and dads now?”

  She laughed. “No. But if he’s going to keep staring over here, I’d like to know why.”

  I wasn’t concerned with it, especially when the whistle blew to end the game. I packed up my stuff and headed toward my niece.

  “Hey, Maggie Mae! Good job, my superstar!” I gave her a high five when she came off the field.

  “Great job, Maggie,” Lexi told her. “I like your hair in pigtails. And the red ribbons, too. Did Taryn do that for you?” Maggie nodded and then Lexi turned to me and said, “I gotta get going.”

  “Okay. Tell Muffy and Fifi hello for me.”

  She rolled her eyes but smiled and said, “Guthrie and Benoit.”

  “Ha ha, whatever. Have fun walking your mongrels.”

  After Lexi left, I knelt down at Maggie’s level. “You ready to go?”

  “I’m hungry,” she frowned.

  I glanced at my watch and said, “Okay, let’s go get something to eat. But your team is handing out treats right now. Why don’t you get a treat and then we can go.”

  “Okay,” she shrugged.

  I waited for a minute, observing the other parents and kids around me. I was only twenty-one—way too young to be a full time soccer mom already. My sister was four years older than me, and it was unfortunate that she considered her corporate life to be more important than her daughter’s. But the rest of us didn’t want Maggie to pay for her mom’s choices, and even though I was a little reluctant to basically become a nanny for my sister, I was glad that I had. Maggie and I got along great, and although I wasn’t a natural in the “mom” department, I did make a pretty good aunt.

  “Excuse me,” a voice said behind me.

  I turned around to face the guy Lexi had pointed out earlier, the hot dad from the other side of the field.

  “Is this your phone?” he inquired, holding it out for me.

  I was surprised that it was, unsure of how I’d lost it. “Um, yes, it is. Thank you.”

  “You, uh, just… Well, you dropped it when you were making your trek west.”

  I glanced down at the pile that I’d set aside for the moment: a chair, a blanket, my jacket, my camera bag, and an umbrella.

  “Yeah, I um…kind of planned for whatever I could,” I smiled.

  “First year of soccer?” he asked.

  I had tried not to study him too much up until that point, but I couldn’t help it. I know I paused, caught off-guard by how nice his smile was. He was even better looking up close, with dark eyes, and a hint of stubble that worked well with that nice smile.

  “Uh, yeah, pretty much,” I finally said. “Um, at the first game—in August, when it’s supposed to be sunny and warm—it poured down rain. Uh, I wasn’t prepared for that. Another morning was what, forty degrees? –And windy. Then there were a couple of pretty normal games, and then last week was the rain again… I don’t know. I can’t keep up.”

  He smiled and nodded his head. “That’s northwest weather for you. Are you not from around here?”

  “Is it that obvious?”

  He smiled again and seemed to study me for a moment, and whereas I first thought I was just talking to another parent at a soccer game, now I got the feeling that he was interested in me on a personal level. He seemed to be giving me that “yeah I’m kind of into you” look. I’ll admit that he was a great looking guy, especially with those beautiful dark eyes, but really…

  “I’m starving,” Maggie said dramatically, dropping her water bottle and sweatshirt on my pile of stuff.

  It was my escape, and I took it. “Well let’s go eat, then. What do you feel like eating?”

  “I wanna hot dog.”

  “A hot dog? Really? At ten in the morning?”

  She gave me a look that said, “Why not?”

  I realized soccer dad was still present, so in an effort to be somewhat polite as Maggie was trying to drag me away to the parking lot, I said, “Thank you so much for picking up my phone. I really appreciate it.”

  “Sure, no problem. I’m Zack, by the way.”

  He held out his hand, so I stopped to shake it. “Taryn. Nice to meet you.”

  “You too, Taryn. I guess I’ll see you next Saturday?”

  “Uh, do our teams play each other again?”

  “I don’t think so,” he smiled. “But four fields, eight U-6 teams…I’m sure I’ll see you here somewhere.”

  “Oh, right. Well, okay. Bye. And thanks again,” I added, attempting to pick up all of my pile again. Now I had Maggie’s things to deal with, so after asking her to carry her own stuff, I draped my jacket and the blanket over an arm and scooped up the chair and the umbrella.

  “Can I help you carry something?” Zack asked. “Here, I’ll take the chair,” he said without waiting for a response. He took it from me just as Maggie went skipping along with Abigail, so I decided to start following her.

  “Thanks,” I told him. “Think a wagon would work better?”

  “Probably,” he agreed. Then he smiled again and asked, “So where are you from?”

  “Oh, um, San Francisco. Well, Kensington, actually. It’s not really a city that—”

  “Kensington, huh? North of Berkeley?”

  “Yeah, exactly. How would you know that?”

  “My best friend from col
lege is from Kensington.”

  “Oh yeah? Hmm, small world.”

  “His name is Dave Wilkins. You don’t happen to know him, do you?”

  I thought for a second, but it didn’t ring a bell. “No, sorry. Bigger world than I figured.”

  He chuckled as I kept an eye on Maggie entering the parking lot. She said goodbye to Abigail when I motioned her over, and then we crossed the aisle to my car.

  “Thank you for the help,” I told him as we stopped at my trunk.

  “No problem.” He waited while I tossed the other things inside and then handed me my chair. It was then that it dawned on me… What the heck did he do with his kid?

  I glanced around the parking lot, wondering if maybe the guy had a wife (or ex-wife) nearby waiting for him. Maybe the little girl was with her.

  “So how long have you lived in the area?” he asked as I shut the trunk.

  “Um, just through the summer. My sister lives up here so I came up north to, uh, help her out with a few things.”

  “Did it turn into a permanent situation, or do you still plan on moving back?”

  “Well, right now I’m not really sure. I actually got a lot of work that I wasn’t expecting up here. I’m a photographer,” I clarified, especially because I knew he’d ask. I wasn’t sure why I was just rattling off my life for him, but I chose to hold back on the nanny aspect of it.

  “Yeah I noticed your fancy equipment there,” he smiled, nodding to the camera bag still over my shoulder. “I thought maybe you were taking pictures for the Seattle Times or something.”

  I smiled and shook my head. “Nah, today was just for fun. It’s a habit that never goes away.”

  He slightly nodded. “So…what kind of photography do you do? Anything, or do you prefer something in particular?”

  “Well, I’ve photographed just about everything over the past few years. But up here there’s a different scene for the outdoors. I’ve been having fun exploring that, I guess. I’ve also done a few different business events up here. My sister is the public relations director for her advertising company.”

  “Hmm, that helps.”

  “Yeah,” I smiled. But I wasn’t about to get into how I didn’t like getting jobs through Rachel. That’s how she lured me north, and it didn’t take long for me to realize that Maggie was more familiar with her babysitter than her own mother, and then I knew there was a different purpose for me.

  Speaking of Maggie… She was giving me that “come on, let’s go” look from the car.

  “Well, I need to get this little girl fed,” I told Zack. “Thanks again for the help; I appreciate it.”

  “Sure, anytime.”

  I did like his smile, and I’ll admit that I was attracted to him. I could tell that he liked me too, but just the whole situation—trying to pick me up at his kid’s soccer game—kind of turned me off to him. Yes he was just being friendly, and no he didn’t say or do anything super creepy, but I had so many guy troubles that it wasn’t even funny. I couldn’t add soccer dad—single or not—to my overflowing plate.

  I watched him leave, stopping for a little girl that was waiting with an older couple. After a few seconds he nodded and motioned for her to come with him, and the two of them got into a four-door Wrangler. It was definitely nice, like he spent time and money on making it special. I tended to think that guys drove cars that represented them in a way. If I had to, I’d stereotype Zack as the outdoors type, but with a touch of class.

  “Taryn, I’m hungry,” Maggie said out her open door.

  It brought me back to reality, so I made sure she was buckled in correctly, and got behind the wheel in search of a hot dog.

  Chapter Two

  “Please, Taryn?” Rachel begged. She was using her big brown eyes to work for her, but I wasn’t a man, so it didn’t have the same effect. “I’m ready for any excuse to can Yvette. If she ‘might’ be late, I need to hire someone else. She’s always bitchy anyways. She doesn’t like me and I can’t stand her fake compliance. I would so much rather you be there, Taryn.”

  I sighed and glanced at Maggie. We were heading to the park that morning and she was all ready to go. Rachel was heading for work on a Sunday—some brunch for an important company—but before she left she made the pitch for an extra photographer.

  “Sorry, Rachel. We have plans.”

  “Taryn, Bethany can take Maggie to the park. It’s the park.” She rolled her eyes at me, like I was another child in the room.

  I hated the way she made it sound so insignificant. Yeah it was just the park, and it would be there the next day, but I had already promised my niece.

  “Sorry,” I said again.

  “I thought you needed the money,” she said, trying to strengthen her case.

  “I do.”

  “Then just come do this. Maggie, Taryn can take you to the park later, okay? Then she can also take you shopping and you can get some new Barbies or some clothes. How does that sound?”

  Wow, the ultimate bribe. And Maggie ate it all up. She didn’t mind a change of plans after that and she nodded her head of long brown hair.

  “Okay, so go grab your things for Bethany’s,” she told her.

  Rachel was on the phone with the neighbor before I could even object, and Maggie was already fetching her “babysitter bag.” It sounded like Bethany was all for having Maggie that morning, so I went to my room, changed my clothes, and got my equipment together.

  I hate sisters that know how to manipulate.

  The event that day was b-o-r-i-n-g. I found myself taking pictures of weird things just to bide the time—plants, the coat check, people’s half-eaten food on the tabletops… I even discreetly snapped photos of people’s shoes for some reason. I hated posed pictures, and that’s what this particular schmoozing party was for. Ooh, let’s get so-and-so with Mr. Big CEO, and wow, how about Ms. Cougar Widow, willing to fork over the big bucks while the sexy young Mr. Debonair plays along to get the account.

  Man, I hated business events. And the political ones were even worse.

  When my job was finally over, I began packing up my equipment as the cleanup crew took over. One of the workers was in my area, patiently waiting for me to move so he could complete his job.

  “Sorry, I’m moving,” I told him.

  He seemed surprised that I was apologizing. “Oh, no, that’s okay,” he smiled. “Take all the time you need.”

  “I’m kind of slow and methodical.”

  “Expensive equipment. No reason to put it in danger.”

  I chuckled and nodded my head. “Exactly. Thank you for your patience.”

  We were somewhat interrupted by Mr. Debonair giving Worker Guy a questioning look. Maybe the help wasn’t supposed to talk to anyone? But I felt like “the help” too, so what was the difference?

  The man moved away to sweep an area that he’d just swept.

  “You’ve had a busy day,” Mr. Debonair said to me.

  Busy? I felt like a robot, mechanical with every picture I took. Nothing felt inspiring or exciting in anyway. I couldn’t imagine any of the photos I took being worth the memory.

  “There are a lot of people here,” was all I said.

  “Yes, a pretty important shindig.” He seemed to say it sarcastically, so maybe I’d read him wrong earlier. He watched me zip my last bag and then said, “You seem a little more easygoing than the other photographer. Are you new?”

  I looked him over for the first time, really. I guess maybe he was new, or at least hadn’t been to an event that I’d worked at. He kind of had a familiar look to him, his face at least, but I couldn’t recall if I’d seen him before. I tried not to look him over too closely; after all, I had deemed him sexy earlier. But even though men in Armani suits didn’t exactly impress me, I was careful not to seem interested by staring. However, the fact that he wasn’t wearing a tie sort of made me curious. He was the only man in the room not wearing one. But…that open-collared look really worked for him.

&nbs
p; “No, I’ve worked a few of these before. What about you? Are you new in the company?”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Miller and Harris? No, I don’t work for them,” he kind of smiled. I understood why when he added, “My dad is John Miller, though. I’m just here for him. It’s a rare occasion,” he added.

  I looked over his expensive suit and tried not to form an opinion. My sister liked working for John, but that was because they understood each other. They had that same love for the business world that I just didn’t get. But as for this suit-and-tie wearing atmosphere that John so adamantly policed amongst his employees, I wondered how his son could get away with being so casual.

  I knew that I had to treat this guy professionally though, so I said, “My sister is Rachel Hartford. She really likes working for your dad.”

  “Rachel, huh?” he said, seeming surprised. “Yeah, I guess I can see the resemblance,” he added.

  I smiled to be polite.

  “So is that why you’re here?” he asked. “Business with the sister?”

  I was slightly offended by that but I only said, “Actually it’s a favor to the sister. Um, I gotta get going, though,” I added, slinging my bags over my shoulder. “It was very nice to meet you, uh, Mr. Miller.”

  He kind of chuckled. “Mr. Miller is my dad. Call me Jared.”

  With a nod I said, “Okay, nice to meet you, Jared. Have a great week.”

  I was about to leave but he stopped me with, “So am I supposed to ask Rachel what your name is?”

  I looked at him for a few seconds, trying to determine what the best choice would even be. He had a partial smile on his face, like he knew my dilemma. He was extremely good looking—light brown hair and green eyes—and great teeth to go along with his beautiful smile.

  “I’m Taryn,” I decided to divulge, just to keep my sister out of it.

  He smiled with a slight nod. “Taryn. I like it. You actually look like a Taryn.”

  That caught me off guard. I’d never actually been told that before. I wasn’t offended or anything, but I was curious as to why he’d think that.