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  “Uh, not really. She’s not exactly socially outgoing, but lately she seems a little more confident. I’m not quite sure why. I thought for sure losing her mom would just… I don’t know. I was afraid she would totally shut down or something.”

  “Well she has you to keep her involved in things. That’s important.”

  “Yeah, but the things that she’s been captivated with the most have been things that Zack has done for her, or you have done. I mean jeez, I would have never thought of a carriage, let alone have the means to arrange for one. It’s been other people that have reached out and made a difference in her life. It hasn’t been me.”

  “Taryn, you’re the constant in her life no matter what she’s experiencing. You’re going to have some bumps along the way to work through, but don’t forget about the fun things you’re going to do with Maggie. Everyone has different things to offer; Zack, nor I, can give her what you give her. Whether it’s a vacation to the mountain, a trip down the street in a carriage, or a bedtime story at night…there’s no way that she’d want to do any of those things without you.”

  I considered that as I grilled toasted cheese sandwiches. I believed that he was right, and I was grateful for the things he said to keep me positive, just like Zack did. However, I felt uncomfortable unloading my whines to yet another person, and I chose not to continue with it.

  “So what have you been up to lately?” I asked.

  He sat down at the counter and said, “Well, just…writing and stuff, I guess. Recording. Messing around while I have time off.”

  “This is your, uh, offseason or something?” I smiled.

  With a chuckle he said, “Yeah, for now. It varies. We toured from spring through summer—September 6th was our last show. Then we enjoy time to ourselves—go back home, spend time with family or whatever—and then decide from there when we’re ready to collaborate again.”

  “Go home? You mean you normally live somewhere else?”

  “Well I live in L.A. most of the time. When we’re recording for an album, that’s where we go. Kurt’s from Kentucky, Marcus has family in Ontario, and Jack lives in California all the time. We’re kind of a mixed up group of guys,” he smiled. “But it works.”

  “I guess so. I mean you’d have to get along well if you’ve been so successful. So…you said you’ve been recording. Does that mean here? Do you have a recording studio?”

  “Yeah, I do. In my house.”

  “Um, how long have you been playing music?”

  “Well, my mom made me take piano when I was about ten. I hated it,” he rolled his eyes. “I really wanted to play the guitar, but she said I had to take two years of piano and then she’d buy me a guitar. I’m glad it worked out that way, though. I love playing both.”

  “Your music is incredible. Instrumentally it’s great. And, uh… Well, you have an amazing voice.”

  “Thank you,” he smiled.

  I nodded, unable to reply with words. There was something about the way he smiled at me—sort of…surprised? Shy? I wasn’t sure. Certainly he knew how amazing he was—the charts even said so, and I’m sure screaming fans, incessant paparazzi, and his net worth was proof enough.

  “I do have another song for you,” he added. I looked at him with suspicion and he said, “No worries. I don’t think you’ll be offended.”

  “Sure, that’s what you think.”

  He smiled, but he seemed a little uncomfortable about it anyways. I didn’t want to question it though, so I just set his sandwich in front of him and he thanked me. We ended up talking about Maggie’s trick-or-treating experience, and after we ate, Jared wanted to know what she did with her candy.

  I pointed to her bag that was by the front door. “It didn’t get far. And you can’t raid it before I get my pick first.”

  “Fine, fine,” he said, retrieving the candy.

  He was glancing through it like he was going to take some so I grabbed it from him.

  “Greedy little candy monger,” he accused me.

  “That’s right. Isn’t that my job as a parent?”

  He smiled and said, “Certainly is.” I only took a couple of things and he raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

  “I’m not really a candy eater.”

  “Really?” he said, taking the bag when I handed it to him. “I think I’d eat everything in here.”

  Chuckling I said, “You and Zack both. Jeez, what is with the candy?”

  He shrugged and said, “We’re high energy guys. Me with music, him with sports. We need the sugar.”

  “Hmm,” I shrugged. “I guess I’m the same way with cake. I love cake.”

  “Then you must go crazy on your birthday.”

  “Ha, yeah that’s my favorite part. A great piece of cake can make the day.”

  “When’s your birthday?”

  “Uh, February 8th.”

  “February 8th,” he murmured, pretending to write it down on his hand. “And you’ll be…?”

  “Twenty-two,” I smiled with amusement. “Isn’t it considered rude to ask?” I teased.

  “You’re an old woman, so it doesn’t matter.”

  “Ha-ha. When’s your birthday?”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “I’ll make you guess.”

  I took the bait. “Hmm, I’m guessing you’re…a summer baby.”

  “Nope,” he practically gloated. “Guess again.”

  “Winter?”

  “No,” he tried not to laugh.

  “Damn, then it’s spring or fall… I’ll say fall, so…September?”

  “Nope,” he barely smiled. “I’ll give you a hint…I’m a Scorpio.”

  I raised my eyebrows with surprise. “I know my zodiacs,” I bragged. “That means you’re jealous and manipulative.”

  “Ha!” he scoffed. “Try passionate and loyal.”

  I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “Competitive and moody.”

  “Ambitious and observant. And being competitive is a plus,” he added with a cute lift of his brow.

  I almost wavered. The way he looked at me was so… “Intense,” I supplied.

  He paused, and then a tiny corner of his mouth twitched. “Now that you’re getting into the positives…”

  “Is that a positive?”

  “Isn’t it?”

  I eyed him carefully. “I don’t know. Is ‘complicated’ a positive?”

  He paused again. “I’d say that’s dependent on perception.”

  I couldn’t reply. For one, I wasn’t sure what to say, and another, I decided he was right.

  “So you think I’m complicated, huh?” he kind of smirked. But he looked a little unsure.

  Barely swallowing I said, “Maybe on some levels.”

  He slightly nodded but didn’t agree or disagree. “So how do you know so much about Scorpios?” he asked. “Ex boyfriend, huh? Or Zack? If that’s the case, then you know what they say about us when it comes to relationships, right?” His gaze was steady, but there was this look in his eye. I did actually know what he was alluding to because of my mom’s jokes about it.

  “My dad is a Scorpio,” I said smugly. “The two of you actually have a lot in common.”

  “Is that right,” he smirked. “Well then I won’t get into that last part about relationships, being that it’s your dad we’re talking about…”

  I couldn’t help it and I laughed. “Thanks, I appreciate it. But my mom and I are very close, so it’s kind of a well-known fact that my dad is very, um…”

  “We’ll just leave it at ‘intense,’ ” he finished. But that intensity was right there in his eyes and I could feel a heat rush through my body because of it.

  “So what day is your birthday?” I finally asked, trying to rid my thoughts of how wonderful he’d be in bed. “Out with it.”

  “Uh…October 31st.”

  I stared at him for a few seconds. “It’s today?”

  “Yep,” he nodded, unwrapping a miniature Kit Kat. He stuck a bar of it in his mouth
and said, “Happy Halloween. It was pretty awesome this year.”

  I smiled and said, “Well happy birthday.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And how old are you? Seventeen?”

  “Ha,” he smiled. “Add seven years, but I’ll take seventeen. There are a few things I’d like to do over.”

  “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  He partially smiled and said, “You heard of a song called ‘Back Then’?”

  I laughed out loud, almost waking Maggie up. “That song is about your high school antics?” I said quietly.

  “Yes. But don’t tell my dad. I lied and said it was about Marcus.”

  I laughed again, but that time kept it quieter. “You really did all those things?”

  “Yes.” I didn’t say anything for a few seconds and he smiled. “You think less of me, huh. Delinquent in your home, bad example for your kid…”

  “I’m actually thinking of the lyrics… You just did a lot of stupid stuff.”

  “Yeah, I was a stupid kid.”

  “Well, we’re not perfect. And I think all of us skipped school one time or another.”

  “To streak at a baseball game?”

  “Uh, no, I didn’t try that one.”

  “I’d like to see you try that one.”

  “Ha, I’m not that desperate for attention.”

  “It was a dare.”

  “It was a cry for help.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, pretty much.” I studied him for a few seconds and he added, “My dad was never around. I always said I didn’t really care if he found out about stuff, but then I was glad when he didn’t. I still cared about his approval anyways.”

  “What about now?”

  He shrugged. “We have an understanding. He appreciates the business aspect of my career, but we don’t really have much else in common. It’s fine. I’m old enough to understand his commitment to his job, but back then I didn’t.”

  “I think that’s why he and Rachel got along so well.”

  “Yeah, he praised her work ethic from what I remember. But…”

  He didn’t finish his sentence so I asked, “But what?”

  “Uh, I probably shouldn’t say it.”

  “You probably should. But what?”

  “Well, I was just going to say that Maggie doesn’t have to go through what I did as a kid. My dad worked so much my mom divorced him. I was bounced between both of their lives and I just wasn’t a happy kid. It sucks to know that your dad loves his job more than he loves you. Rachel was doing that to Maggie, and I’m sorry if this offends you, but it was never going to change. She had that competitive business streak to her like my dad—I could see it plain as day.”

  I wasn’t offended because I knew it was true. I only nodded with agreement but didn’t know what else to say.

  “Well, I should get going,” he said, glancing at his watch. He grabbed his jacket and tie from the couch and said, “Thank you for dinner.”

  “Wasn’t much of a dinner,” I smiled.

  “No, it was perfect.”

  “Well thanks for the princess taxi.”

  He chuckled and nodded his head. “Anytime.”

  As he walked himself to the door I said, “Didn’t you have something for me? A song?”

  He paused for a few seconds and I could tell he took a deep breath. “Maybe another time,” he finally said.

  “How come?”

  He paused again. “Uh, I don’t know. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  I joined him at the door and he remained there with his hand on the knob. “Please? I’d like to hear something new. I won’t be offended or take it personal. I promise.”

  “Who said it was about you?”

  “I thought you did.”

  “I said I had a song for you; I didn’t say it was about you.”

  “Oh.”

  He smiled again, probably because he knew I was embarrassed. “Okay, so it is about you. But I don’t think you’re ready for it.”

  “What?” I chuckled. “What’s there to be ready for? Please let me have it. I promise I’ll give you my honest opinion about it.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.”

  He seemed to think about it for a few seconds and then nodded his head. “Okay. It’s in my car. Let me grab it.”

  I watched him head for his car in the rain. It was cold and gloomy out, and it made me long for a warm, sunny beach. He returned to the porch and handed me a disc, and the first thing I did was look for a title.

  There wasn’t one.

  “What’s the name of it?” I asked warily.

  He chuckled. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out. Goodnight, Taryn. Thanks for an amazing birthday.”

  I watched him head for his car again, and as I hugged myself to stay warm in the cold, I waited until he turned the corner out of sight before I went inside.

  I could barely wait to listen to Jared’s music, but I took Maggie to her bed before I did the same for myself. I stuck the CD into my laptop so I could listen to it in bed, and I started with the volume turned way down just to anticipate a powerful guitar or some drumbeats. However, the quiet piano took me by surprise and I had to turn it up to hear it better.

  I listened to the three-minute song and was almost too stunned to move when it was over. I couldn’t believe that it actually made me cry, and I didn’t know what else to do but listen to it again.

  And again, and again…

  Chapter Eighteen

  Something poked my boob, and I felt in the dark for what it was. It was a little foot. When I grabbed it, I heard a giggle and opened my eyes.

  Maggie was stretched across my bed on her stomach with her happy little feet wiggling by my chest. She smiled at me, and then I rolled onto my back. That’s when that familiar sound registered, the song that had been running through my head the entire night.

  “What are you doing?” I asked her, sitting up.

  “Listening to Jared,” she shrugged. She had my laptop in front of her and apparently it was still on repeat.

  I reached over to close it and the music stopped. The silence felt odd, like I’d been connected to the words for so long and then…it was no longer.

  “I wanna listen,” she pouted.

  I glanced at the clock and it read 8:24. “Wow, how’d I sleep so long? What time did you get up, Maggie Mae?”

  “Um, seven…seven-two?”

  I nodded, assuming she meant seven-twenty-something, which was when we usually got up.

  I got out of bed to take a shower and that’s when Maggie said, “Zack said you won’t answer your phone.”

  Zack. Oh, crap. He was going to call last night before he left Utah, to see how trick-or-treating went for Maggie.

  “Did you talk to him?” I asked, feeling a little worried.

  “Yep.”

  “Did you tell him about your carriage ride?”

  “Yep. He thought it was really cool.”

  Hmm, I’m sure he did, but I was also worried because I was positive that Maggie went on and on about Jared.

  “Where’s my phone?” I asked, looking around my room first. I thought maybe she’d brought it in to me but found me still asleep.

  “Um, on the couch,” she said, jumping up to go get it. When she brought it to me I immediately checked my call history.

  Maggie had talked to Zack for almost twenty minutes.

  Plus there was also a call from him the night before, and two text messages. All three asked me to give him a call when I had a chance.

  “Did you eat yet?” I asked Maggie when she was about to open my laptop again.

  “I had candy.”

  “Great,” I murmured. “Come on, let’s go make some eggs.”

  I headed to the kitchen as I called Zack, and he picked up on the first ring.

  “Good morning,” he greeted.

  “Hey. Uh…I’m sorry about last night. I left my phone in my purse I guess, and then I went to bed before eleven
and just sort of conked out.”

  “Oh, no big deal. I was just worried about you. I thought maybe you guys were getting all wacked out on candy at ten o’clock.”

  “Nah, Maggie did that this morning.”

  He laughed and said, “She’s saving some for me, right?”

  “Yes, I’ll have to take it away for now.”

  “So everything went okay last night?”

  “Yeah, it did. She told you all about it, right?”

  “Jared and his princess carriage? Yeah, she did. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I think I should have just bailed on my other meeting and came home. It didn’t go so well.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  “Nah, it’s not that I’m disappointed with the outcome, it’s that I wasted my time on them. I’d rather work with companies that have values. But anyways, I’m heading to the office but I’d like to stop by first if that’s okay. I miss you girls.”

  “Please do. We miss you too.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you in about ten minutes.”

  “Do you have time for breakfast?”

  “Uh, let me okay it with the boss first.”

  “Shut up,” I scoffed.

  He laughed and said, “See you in ten.”

  By the time Zack came through the door, I had bacon, eggs, and toast ready to be consumed. Maggie was excited to see him, and she barely let him past the couch before she attacked him with a big hug. I removed everything from the stove so I could get a hug from him too, and when Maggie ran to get her candy loot to share, Zack took the opportunity to kiss me until she returned.

  He stayed for almost an hour, and after I cleaned up the house and started the laundry from our weekend away, Maggie and I made a trip to the grocery store. I had an idea in my head from the night before, so my list contained a few extra things than it normally did. After putting away a load of laundry and making lunch, I went to work on my little project and I was pretty proud of it when I was done. Maggie had a blast helping me with it, especially because it was for Jared, and I called him up around one and asked, “Do you mind if I deliver something to you today?”

  I could tell he was surprised—I was even surprised with myself—but he answered, “Uh no, I don’t mind. Do I have to clean my house?”